Microsoft Uses WGA To Obtain Record Jail Sentences 311
theodp writes "According to Microsoft, 'No information is collected during the [Genuine Advantage Program] validation process that can be used to identify or contact a user.' That's little comfort to the software counterfeiters who were just handed jail sentences ranging from 1.5-6.5 years by the Futian People's Court in China, especially since Microsoft contends that much of the estimated $2B in bogus software was detected by its Windows Genuine Advantage program. 'Software piracy negatively impacts local economic growth,' explained Microsoft VP Fengming Liu in a celebratory New Year's Eve press release. But then again, so does transferring $16B of assets and $9B in annual profit to an Irish tax haven, doesn't it?"
GOOD! (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, There is a persisting writeup from a japanese LUG years ago talking about how pirated copies of windows cannibalize the linux userbase and dev base.
Pirated windows is the bane of linux, and I applaud microsoft for slitting their own throat by pursuing windows counterfeiters.
Er, did WGA really do much there? (Score:2, Interesting)
Sounds to me like they were just bragging that WGA actually noticed when a user had a counterfeit copy, not that it had any effect on the sentence.
Just wait till a Chinese Co breaks the GPL (Score:5, Interesting)
And a lot of you guys will be screaming murder. Have you realized that GPL enforcement and Windows license enforcement comes from the same thing as Copyright law?
Re:Tenuous Summary (Score:4, Interesting)
People call my store all the time accusing us of giving them stolen software. I explain that they have an OEM sticker on their PC and we'd never do that, but heck, Microsoft might get them to buy a second or third copy- so maybe that was their plan.
ridiculous (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft is a convicted criminal enterprise. It beats the hell out of the rest of us why Americans remain so unconcerned about the vast scale of their theft, not to mention the tax evasion - and continue to let them get away with it and even defend them... No wonder your house of cards is collapsing...
Who are you talking too? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The moral of the story... (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm in college right now. My dad makes about $27k a year supporting his wife and my brother. He makes just enough that I don't get shit from the government via FAFSA. I'm working as many hours as I can pick up in a worker-saturated college town that exists around the college, and only going to school at about 3/4 time.
Where is my advantage again?
Re:Negatively Affects Growth? Uh, try again. (Score:3, Interesting)
Thats an economic fallacy called the Window Broken Fallacy.
The gist is that a kid breaks a window,therefore stimulates the economy to "create hundreds of dollars" of potential wealth in services and such.
The fallacypart is that would have happened any number of different ways. Instead, the person with the broken window is out that much money.
Re:The moral of the story... (Score:3, Interesting)
I keep telling people we should drop the tax rate on corporations in the US to about 2-4%. That would make it one of the lowest tax rates in the world. Of course, I recommend that they do that and change the tax system to gross receipts basis. Nobody seems to like that part.
Re:Not good! (Score:1, Interesting)
Just use the phone authentication and lie that you are installing new system.
MS stores system change data only for 60 days or so, or that at least what their third level support accidentally told me :)
Re:Not good! (Score:1, Interesting)
That would be great, except that I changed it too many times within 60 days and now my key is flagged as 'pirated,' as both the robophone activation voice and an MS rep tell me. :(
Re:GOOD! (Score:2, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:2, Interesting)