Would Microsoft fail if they eliminated piracy? “network ext

[eiver]

however those same people will feel more urgent to buy a cd of their favourite artists ect.. when they have the money

Somehow I think the number of people who will go out and buy what they already "own" is rather small.

You can get a good estimate of this number by comparing the amount of people using Mint, to the amount of people who decided to give a donation.

[randomizer]

LOL good comparison

[JonM33]

Piracy, it has been claimed, causes the loss of billions of dollars worldwide. I’m not about to launch into a discussion of whether or not that is true (perhaps another day?), but one thing has always bothered me: why doesn’t Microsoft (a good example) stop piracy of Windows, once and for all?

As a software publisher, you can't. Microsoft does the best that it can with activation, which as been around since Windows XP. You can get away with say installing Windows on two computers, claim that a hard drive/motherboard failed and you had to re-install. But if you do it countless times within a certain period your license key will be revoked.

Other software publishers have resorted to activation as well but they all fail. Heck, all versions of Ashampoo Burning Studio (for Windows) up till 9.0 never had activation. You could input a valid license key in and it worked. With their latest version 10.0 it requires activation. The work around? A registry entry tricks the software into thinking it is already activated.

So no matter what software publishers try, it never works.

[eiver]

But if you do it countless times within a certain period your license key will be revoked.

Actually that happened to me. I installed XP on my computer and then my mobo failed. I bought a new one and had to install XP again, because the old installation didn't work anymore with the new mobo. Of course the system refused to activate. I called MS call center and told them about my situation. They said basically what you said - that they have no idea if what I am saying is true or if I am just trying to install XP on my friends computer for free. Finally I got mad in the conversation and I said: "Listen lady! Among people that I know, I am the only idiot who actually decided to pay for this crappy system and I am the only one who has problems with activation! You better activate it RIGHT NOW or I am getting a cracked copy, which is much more user-friendly in that case. And by the way, I can buy a new PC everyday if I wish to so be prepared that I will call you tomorrow." Well that worked and they finally activated my XP. Fighting piracy always makes legitimate users life harder - no one can escape that.

[randomizer]

If they have no idea if you're putting it on the same PC or your friend's PC then that's their problem. They should add more spyware to their activation system so they can work that out. I've personally installed the same OEM copy of XP on 4-5 different computers although only one at a time, and not once has it failed to automatically activate. My father paid for a full retail copy of Vista and couldn't activate it more than once on the same PC after a reformat, with no change of hardware. It required manual activation over the phone.

[JonM33]

If they have no idea if you're putting it on the same PC or your friend's PC then that's their problem. They should add more spyware to their activation system so they can work that out. I've personally installed the same OEM copy of XP on 4-5 different computers although only one at a time, and not once has it failed to automatically activate. My father paid for a full retail copy of Vista and couldn't activate it more than once on the same PC after a reformat, with no change of hardware. It required manual activation over the phone.

My license for Windows 7 Home Premium x64 is OEM as well. When I replaced my motherboard I had to call Microsoft to re-activate. It refused to activate automatically. It wasn't a big deal, they didn't even bother to ask to ensure it was installed on only one system.

[Nick_Djinn]

Ive noticed that you can usually get several installs out of the older copies of Windows XP.

The cracked versions of XP, like the black edition, work pretty well. The black edition of Windows 7 is buggy though. I have not tried the Red edition yet.


I own a legitimate copy of XP, and 7 for my laptop, but I noticed some improvement in functionality with XP black edition over the standard XP disk with service pack 2.

[LonePiper]

Probably quite irrelevant to the direction the convo is going, but from what I hear Windows is being sold in China and India and places like that for ridiculously low prices like $5

[Pilosopong Tasyo]

Probably quite irrelevant to the direction the convo is going, but from what I hear Windows is being sold in China and India and places like that for ridiculously low prices like $5

They can be had for as low as USD $2.00 - $3.00 at shady places here. It's no surprise tons of home and business users still use p* copies of Windows instead of going legal. For USD $46 - $218 for Win7 OEM and $85 - $346 for MS-Office OEM, the combo price can be more expensive than the cost of the computer itself.

[Nick_Djinn]

And its a good thing those pirated copies are available (For Microsoft), since huge numbers of people not being able to afford the west standard would = a move to a free or affordable OS (for these poorer countries with devalued currency).

In China Linux is already way more popular than it is here in the US, and Windows and Linux are both affordable due to the normalcy of pirated Windows that work quite well. Just dont turn on automatic updates and install only what you need from the service packs.

But yes, in this instance maybe software piracy is hurting free software.....piracy is filling the void faster than free software is, but if anti-piracy ever become successful, it wouldnt be that hundreds of million of Chinese would all cough up hundreds for legitimate Windows 7 disks but more often that they would use Linux or another OS if they couldnt get pirated Windows for cheap enough.


Even if Microsoft doesnt get MONEY from those pirated versions of Windows, it at least is keeping Windows as the universal standard, which is not a guaranteed position in this world. A Unix based or Unix like operating could realistically take its place if the cards were right for it. We saw Android storm the market in smartphones, dont be sure it couldnt happen on desktops as well. My point though is that by keeping Windows as the standard they protect their markets in countries where people are more likely to pay for Windows.....if all pirates had to choose between paying for Windows or using Linux, a lot would use Linux (or try even harder to pirate) rather than pay, and then you have more people using Linux which means it becomes a new standard or a larger standard, and that = worse consequences for Microsoft due to increasing its competitions market share than just the fact that they were getting the software without paying.

Maybe some westerners will buy Windows if their pirated version fails enough times, before using Linux, but it just wont happen in poorer countries.


So in this instance Microsoft benefits from piracy and Linux will benefit from Microsoft making piracy more difficult, at Microsofts expense.

[graeme]

Microsoft certainly think piracy helps them. Bill Gates said:

It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 098235.ece

It is obvious that they turn a blind eye to piracy. Here, in Sri Lanka:

1) The police will raid premises used to distribute pirated material, or even companies that use pirated software.
2) Everyone sells pirated windows; it is pre-installed on PCs.
3) Microsoft has an office in the country, so one they have employees present who know what is going on, and could easily take action.

[graeme]

There were come comments about it becoming acceptable to pirate. It has always been acceptable. People have been doing it on a large scale since tape recorders were invented, and I have never met anyone who had a moral problem with copying something to give to a friend.

Everyone uses pirated stuff, even Bill Gates:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/node/2803

[Nick_Djinn]

That is pretty interesting.

Yes, piracy in this instance is actually bad for Linux, but good for Bill Gates. So lets not go on about how the poor mega-corporation is getting abused.