Paul Thurrott's WGA Woes Solved 250
David Horn writes "Last week Slashdot ran an article regarding the trouble Paul Thurrott had with WGA. It turns out that after talking to Microsoft, he was actually running a pirated version of Windows, legitimately purchased from an online vendor. Paul admits that 'the truth is, I just made a mistake. If we learn something from that mistake, fantastic, but I wasn't trying to set up a life lesson for anyone, let alone myself.'"
Huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
As he says, they were looking for a way out and he handed it to them. I do not see that this story clears up or changes anything. This guy is an M$ fanboy and he got caught in their trap. I think that he is enough of a fanboy that he gave them an excuse for their mistake when it was discovered.
I told you. (Score:3, Insightful)
That's what I said in a related comment [slashdot.org] when this story broke out.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Also consider... (Score:3, Insightful)
Just tossing that out there as a possibility. People trade dignity, self-respect and the respect of others for mone
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, if he had bought it from an online retailer, wouldn't he and Microsoft want to investigate that? No mention of it though.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
It seems like MSFT is doing _anything_ they can to preserve credibility of their Brand (including Paul as the fringe).
That sure rings of a captain trying to keep his passengers calm as his ship begins to sink.
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Huh? (Score:4, Insightful)
That said, he's breaking the ToS anyway if he's using an MSDN key as his personal machine. You can use them for development machines (Hence the D = Developer) but not for commercial or personal use.
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
I came across a bunch of Windows XP Pro boxed copies recently that are 95-99% perfect copies of the real thing.
How do I know they were dodgy? Small things like some typos in the manuals, that would never slip through on the genuine article (eg: Microsoft Ply Ltd) and the hologram CD, while it looked pretty damn convincing (all the pretty pictures and all)
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Re:Huh? (Score:2, Informative)
Windows with new PC (Score:2)
My Windows XP that came with my CD had NO case and a 6-page instruction booklet that says nothing. The CD itself has a broken OEM installer, in that it freezes during install at the same point... luckily if I boot off the CD and use that installer, ie not the OEM one with the bundled drivers and all.
You can't cheat an honest man. (Score:4, Insightful)
So he was buying from a company that he knew was already playing a little loose with the rules.
So, a company willing to bend rules is also willing to break laws? Big surprise.
The real surprise is that he wouldn't check the software. And that he'd forget how he got it. And so on and so forth.
This story is just
Re:You can't cheat an honest man. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:You can't cheat an honest man. (Score:3, Interesting)
The box that the camera was supposed to be in arrived sealed and empty - the actual shipping carton had only peanuts and a packing slip, no boxed camera. Newegg denied they ever ship out empty boxes, and it took hours on the phone before they finally relented and sent a replacement camera, they acted like my wife's parents were trying to scam a second camera from them.
Re:You can't cheat an honest man. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:You can't cheat an honest man. (Score:5, Insightful)
The company was willing to 'break the rules' (obviously) by selling a dodgy copy of an OEM CD. This was doubtless not brought to his attention while he was doing business with them.
Re:You can't get an honest deal from M$. (Score:2)
Well, usually the pirated edition of xp pro doesn't have that annoying "you changed your hardware, please reactive through microsoft", and the damn dial up connection for some reason didn't wo
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Informative)
Windows 2003 comes with a joke of a manual, but XP? If you buy OEM, there IS none. Online help is your manual, you get a holographic disc, a COA sticker with a holographic strip, and that's about it.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Not even the holographic disc. All the Dell OEM XPs I've seen have simply been solid green with "Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 2" and other assorted junk printed in Ariel 8pt Bold.
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
He is full of shit... (Score:5, Insightful)
Just to make others safe from that company. He didn't that leads to conclusion that he is full of shit. Also posting such insult requires me to be real about it since if I wouldn't the resseler would sue my ass.
Now after reading (yes I did read that crap) a bit lenghty article on how MS is great, how they suprised him with their support and kindlyness, how it can happen to anyone, blah, blah, blah. I just see MS marketing bullshit in it and the guy getting kind of rich from just blogging what MS suggest him to blog.
It is too obvious. I am not a language expert but I can even see different style of writing/expressing in discussed post that in his other works.
Lucius Lavin? (Score:2)
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been down that road. I went to one of those computer shows a few years ago to look for some now-esoteric equipment like SCSI cases, various SCSI connectors, and so forth. I checked out the software deals, bought a bunch of Norton Antivirus licenses (legit) and Quickbooks Pro. Turned out the Quickbooks CD was counterfeit and wouldn't register/activate. I called Intuit and learned it was a counterfeit. Everything appeared legit to me, but I haven't studied their typefaces or anything. Turns out the "Quickbooks Pro" silkscreening was slightly flawed, and the serial number/install key sticker was a totally different style from what was supposed to be there. The manual and packaging seemed real enough though. Anyway, Quicken met me halfway and gave me a great deal on new legit licenses - three seats (which basically came to three seats for the price of two), when they could have been real jackasses and not give me any discount at all. What I did for them was give them the name, number, and (claimed) address of the dealer from whom I purchased Quickbooks, and checked various show schedules to find the next few they'd be attending so that Quicken could send reps to to bust then. If they fucked me out of $179 with very real-looking packaging, chances are I am not the only one they're ripping off. All in all Intuit was damned courteous when they owed me NOTHING for my inconvenience.
The fact that their software is badly architected and requires admin privileges though, is not so forgiveable.
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:2)
Not so it turned out!
http://www.quickbooksgroup.com/webx?14@@.eeb323b/
Enjoy.
Have some compasion. (Score:2)
If some company would sell me invalid copy (pirated) of software on purpose I would post EVERY DETAIL on that company that I have.
Why all the vindictiveness and personal effort? Are you really that morally outraged that M$ did not get a large portion of your purchase price? The copy fooled you, can't you understand it fooling the person who sold it to you? The retailer got it from a regional wholesaler who got it from an even bigger wholesaler. If you think having a message about "legitimate" softwa
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:2, Insightful)
One day he's your hero, a sage, an oracle. The next he's full of shit
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:2, Insightful)
Everyone here who spotted it from the time of the first article gets +5 perception points.
The people who think Paul really did buy his Windows licenses from some guy in a dark alley... get -5, eh, dupe points.
Microsoft is setting themselves up as the "great source of truth and trust" as it is one part of their strategy to keep their franchise strong. In case you do
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:2)
Got any cites or proof for that?
Or maybe you are.. (Score:2)
Being cynical, isn't perception. IT'S ALL IN YOUR MIND.
Remember that and keep an open mind instead..
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:3, Informative)
And you have proof that the same people are posting both opinions? Newsf
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:2)
I don't want to speak for everybody but as for me I just didn't care about initial report at all. What striked me with his (apparently not his) are few things:
- he didn't state the name of company he bought fake Windows copy - if somebody ripped me of like that company did to him I would post details of this company from three reasons: to get satisfaction, to warn others that the company is not worth buing from and to get everybody to know
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:2)
Re:He is full of shit... (Score:3, Insightful)
Would you suggest that if some moron pays $20 to download a "legitimate" copy of Adobe Photoshop CS 2 from any of the probably scores of vendors claiming to offer "OEM" software (note: a cursory search shows that there is no legitimate OEM Adobe Creative Suite 2... from the horse's m
Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's classic debugging to know that when you try to solve a problem and keep thinking, "But this HAS to work!" you are making an incorrect conclusion somewhere. In this case, trusted person who knows how it is supposed to work has (he incorrectly assumes) a legit copy of Windows, Windows says it's a copy, nobody believes it is a copy. Many jump on anti-Microsoft bandwagon (the knee jerk helps with the jump) and just assume it's evil Microsoft. Did anyone ever post in the thread, "Gee maybe he has an illegal copy?"
Re:Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:2, Insightful)
Actually, it's extortion on the table. (Score:2)
I've legitimately purchased a license of windows that turns out to be pirated and now I have to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to get everything straightened out.
Worse than that, you can't possibly tell if it's "pirated" or not. In the end you have to take M$'s word for it and fork over the cash if you want to keep using your computer the same way. M$ has not always told the truth in the past and others have gleefully defended such "sharp business practices." I wonder how gleeful they will be
Re:Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:2)
If you buy an illegitimate ticket to a concert, do you really expect to be allowed in to see the show?
Re:Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:3, Insightful)
No, you have not purchased a license for Windows. You have purchased a counterfit product. It's as if you purchased concert tickets from a scalper that turned out to be fake - they are not tickets to the concert, they are a forgery.
now I have to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to get everything straightened out. I'm not eating crow.
You puchased a fradulent product and now Microsoft is prev
Re:Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:2)
No. It is not my job to police Microsoft's marketing force, and it is wrong for me to be impacted by their marketing force's incompetence.
This would never happen with my copy of SUSE 10.1, or OpenOffice.
Re:Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:2)
Re:Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:2)
Anyway, it's irrelevant. The real person who needs to eat crow is Paul Thurrott.
Re:Hey is that crow on the table? (Score:2)
Why bother with all that? (Score:2)
I mean if Microsoft is evil then they'd do something like this and doing something like this would prove Microsoft is evil - it's a perfect circle!
It's much easier to point out that free software users don't have these kinds of problems and give them a copy of Mepis [mepis.org] to solve their problems. Yes, M$ has taken the upgrade train and user extortion to new lows but it's nothing new nor is it the worst part of running non free software. Following every detail of the M$ lie machine is a waste of time.
The Real Thing (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft has made a nuisance with its "Certificate of Authenticity", but something that actually works like that seems necessary here. We deride the "broadcast flag", but what about a "copyright hash" that lets us know our transaction was made with the legitimate grantor of even limited copyrights (for our consumption)?
So much DRM is just a hassle or a ripoff that the publishers have poisoned the debate. How do we do what we need to do with DRM, without hanging ourselves from all the extra red tape it creates?
Re:The Real Thing (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The Real Thing (Score:3, Insightful)
Why do you care? Its not your problem who gets paid.
The only way this can work is with personalized copies and phone-home schemes. Everything else is just bits that can be duplicated. I'm sure not ready to sign up for s
Re:The Real Thing (Score:2)
You also don't seem to understand digital signatures, but that's the least of your problems. Especially if you want others to know the authenticity of the bits you publish.
Re:The Real Thing (Score:2)
I am well aware of how digital signatures work. In fact, I am particularly confident that my grasp of digital crypt
Re:The Real Thing (Score:2)
Hello McFly? Did you not read my post? Code signing just proves you got the original bits, which is the premise. The OP wants to know that he got them via legitimate channels.
The Real Absurdity is Intellectual Property (Score:5, Insightful)
How do I know, when I buy a copy of some content (movie, song, app, OS, whatever) that it's "legitimate"?
You can't. There is no difference between the "legitimate" copy and any other copy and that fact demands a rethink of copyright laws designed to protect dead tree publishing.
Copyright law in the US was formed a devil's bargain from the beginning. The founding fathers understood the purpose of such laws was the promotion of creative arts. They never wanted people to own ideas, which they correctly understood as something other than property. They did not even want people to own their publications forever. The goal was to encourage as much expensive publication as possible so that as many people as possible could be exposed to the country's current thoughts. They liberated their presses in a way the old world refused. The goal was to share. Exclusive franchises were established because that sharing was fiercely expensive.
Today the cost of information is now entirely in it's creation. A worldwide network has been built where it is possible to transfer entire libraries without significant cost. The marginal cost of copies is neglegible. There is no reason anyone should be without any knowledge. Once the knowledge is create, it should spread without bounds. People will continue to solve problems and create knowledge because they must if they want to get things done. Most people want that knowledge spread in their lifetime.
The problem comes not from the creators of knowledge but from those who would own it. Large publishers and others, long used to being gate keepers of information, want to retain that position. Windows is an example. The code was acquired though means both fair and foul. Much of it has been used to suppress rather than express as the death of Word Perfect, OS2, Palm and a host of other superior "competitors." In a few cases, such as Netscape, the code was liberated. In other cases, like Fastback and other backup programs, the code was discarded. Outside the computer industry things can be even worse. For every book you see at the major chain stores, there are hundreds in warehouses and thousands that never saw publication. For every song you hear on the radio, the story is much the same. Music, writing and other arts are part of human nature which preceded and will outlast the growing tyranny of IPA ownership. People are trying very hard to get around these would be owners to share and profit from that sharing. The current owners are not offering any share of those profits and will be routed around eventually. In the mean time, they are encroaching further and further into our basic rights to maintain their position.
Copyright needs a complete rework. Strong protections and exclusive franchises are no longer required to promote the creation and spread of the usefull arts. Strong "IPA" laws are now the largest barrier to the innovation and education they obsessively promote.
Re:The Real Absurdity is Intellectual Property (Score:2)
It in fact -could- be different, in deliberate, subtle and dangerous ways. One could produce a version with a particular security holes preinstalled... with software that gets anywhere near valuable data or systems, trust is indeed an issue.
Re:The Real Absurdity is Intellectual Property (Score:2)
Do not confuse authenticity (is the copy identical or tampered?) with legality (legitimate copy or bootleg copy). An authentic bootleg copy is just as trustworthy as an authentic legit copy, they are exactly the same bits after all.
Re:The Real Absurdity is Intellectual Property (Score:2)
There is also the cost of finding the right conten
Re:The Real Absurdity is Intellectual Property (Score:2)
Proof? Twitter put in about two entire paragraphs building a logical case based on facts for his ultimate conclusion which you dismiss with the wave of your hand. You should at least try to make a case for your claim.
Re:The Real Absurdity is Intellectual Property (Score:2)
It's also still much better for our society to disclose invention details, rather than kee
A likely story! (Score:5, Funny)
End result? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't see any win here for the consumer, it's not like the price of Windows is going to come down as a result of this, the only thing we're going to see is this possibly helping Microsoft's bottom line at the expense of disrupting their users.
Wouldn't it be preferred if MS used another method to find their lost revenue? Instead of relying on end users to go through the confusion (and possible further consequences of WGA). Afterall, how many end users are going to call Microsoft to report that their vendor is selling pirate copies of windows(or even realise this, a basic user won't understand) versus just buying a new code online from MS right away.
Re:End result? (Score:2)
It is always the case that, when you buy stolen goods, you risk losing your money and the product. Ignorance is beside the point.
Tin Foil Hat Explanation (Score:5, Funny)
PT: Thanks.
MS Rep: It would be a shame if it was accidentally got blocked by IE 7 for being unsecure.
PT: Now how the hell would that happen?
MS Rep: You know. Things happen. Websites get added to lists. Thumbs get accidentally broken. It's a funny world.
PT: Come to think of it, I think I'm using a bad serial number.
MS Rep: Atta boy.
I don't get these parts... (Score:5, Interesting)
Firefox? Opera? Was it not compatible with anything but IE 6? Sounds lousy.
1. So which one is smaller then?
2. I find it amazing that Windows 2000 has a faster startup and shutdown time than anything. Am I alone here?
3. "The version of IE 6?" Correct me if I wrong, but I believe my IE 6 on Windows XP/SP2 saves web passwords?!?
Re:I don't get these parts... (Score:3, Interesting)
Paul has turned off the saved form information feature on his XP install, forgot he's done it, and can't figure out how to turn it back on.
After all, you don't get a manual with pirated software.....
Re:I don't get these parts... (Score:3, Insightful)
w2000 boot times? (Score:2)
And NT4 was - well, respectable. Despite being Microsoft'e and of course nothing is perfect, but I still consider it to be most successfull workstations OS for the masses of the last few decades
Reporting Windows Piracy (Score:2)
Re:Reporting Windows Piracy (Score:2)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6590518/ [msn.com]
http://www.betanews.com/article/NonLegit_Windows_U sers_Get_Amnesty/1115239342 [betanews.com]
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+proposes+piracy+amne sty/2100-1016_3-5466487.html [com.com]
Cheers!
Microsoft will replace non-genuine (Score:3, Informative)
Details [microsoft.com]
Perhaps Mr. Thurrott should persue his copy.
Wonder how much $$$ changed hands for that . . . (Score:3, Insightful)
This is bullshit (Score:2, Insightful)
HEY MICROSOFT: IF LOGONS ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS RELATIONSHIP WITH AMAZON THEN IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOUR $79 OPERATING SYSTEM, YOU FUCKING RETARDS !!!!!!!!
loss of control of supply chain (Score:5, Insightful)
No, all that is happening here is MS creating such a complex system of distribution and prices, with registration codes that are long and difficult, all while trying to personalize a commodity product. Start with the first item. MS fought for regulations that mean that any manufactured PC must, for all intents and purposes, have Windows installed. So, even if a site license exists, you are still paying for windows. Yet even in light of this, MS still insists on selling upgrade and full products, even though the percentage of people who have not bought a previous copy of windows is small. Of course a copy of windows is linked to a machine, which is another senseless complication. Such complications as upgrade versions, home versions, pro versions, etc, simply allows the crooks an opportunity to manipulate the already confused end user.
Which leads to the second issue. MS Windows is now a fully commoditized product. It owes it's success to being part of fully interchangeable system, which allows beneficial cost reductions for all concerned. The problem is, of course, that MS does not want MS Windows to be a commodity, and therefore treats it as a vertical market application. So, I can't take my copy of MS windows and choose to install it on a single given machine. I am told which machine it belongs to. This does not happen with any other component of the system. OTOH, every copy of MS Windows is all but identical, so the machinations necessary to create this leads to a rube goldberg machine.
If MS would just sell MS Windows for $100 and get over all the hubris that somehow MS WIndows is a special thing would go away. If they want to continue the fantasy that somehow MS WIndows is not a cheap commodity, then they should do something like individualized DVDs, each encoded with their own ID.
I've been bitten (sorta) (Score:2)
Re:I've been bitten (sorta) (Score:2)
3/5 = 100% (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:3/5 = 100% (Score:2)
Or, more likely, the key is in the last 3 portions and the first two are a checksum for it. That's how you prevent people from entering any random key.
loophole? (Score:2)
Good newspeech!
How can a software company get away this this at all?
How would it be with the "loophole" plugged? Whenever a new OS is released, forced to buy it with a full system, so the software can be branded by a hardware key and not be moved off that box?
Maybe that was the idea.
Will Ballmer ever burn out?
Paul's MSDN usage is also illegal (Score:4, Interesting)
Leave Paul's little 'oversight' with MCE 2005 aside. He states in his article that he generally uses MSDN for all of his software. Given that he runs a site about MS stuff and is clearly a big user of their software, it stands to reason that he uses Windows servers, XP workstations, SQL, Frontpage for site authoring, Office for email and all sorts of other things. None of this is legal under the terms of the MSDN license.
I don't have the EULA handy, and there are many subscription types, but all that I have seen clearly state that it cannot be used for commercial purposes, or to develop/maintain your own IT systems.
Just thought I'd point this out.
Re:Paul's MSDN usage is also illegal (Score:3, Informative)
The purpose of MSDN is to provide cheap software to developers working on Windows-based software, to develop on and to test their software against.
There is another option though: It's called the "Microsoft Action Pack". This is an MSDN-like package with regular updates containing
Oblig Car Analogy (Score:2)
What an absolute twat (Score:4, Insightful)
For one site that he can't use IE7 on he's decided the best course of action is to run WinXP in a VM so he can use IE6. Do Firefox and Opera not run on Vista? Or are they also unable to post to WinInfo?
This guy, his favourite OS and the sites he is affiliated with are poster childs for stupidity.
How did *he* make the mistake? (Score:2)
Now, id like to see what happens if one of us little people had that problem ' you got the error, screw you, go buy 10 copies or we sue you'.
Has Thurrott never seen an OEM sticker? (Score:4, Insightful)
When you buy a legitimate OEM copy of Windows - from someone like Dabs.com or NewEgg - it comes in a cellophane wrapper with a hologrammed CD inside and a license sticker on the outside. There's also a scantly little booklet in there entitled "Welcome to Windows XP" or somesuch.
I could understand Thurrott not expecting the hologrammed CD if he's never bought a separate copy of Windows before. Windows 98 & 2000 used to come with a screen-printed CD, and I guess many PCs with Windows pre-installed still do; for some reason if you're a small OEM then you get the full pack of hologrammed CD, sticker & leaflet that I describe above, but it seems that if you're a major-volume OEM like Dell or Packard Hell then you're allowed to buy the stickers separately & stamp your own "restore CDs" or (as many big OEMs are now doing) offer to let the user burn their own restore CD. I guess they get a discount for this.
But does Thurrott really expect us to believe that he doesn't know what an OEM sticker looks like? When he purchased this alleged copy of Windows, the license number must have been printed on something! Wouldn't you be a little suspicious in this day and age if you were buying an OEM copy of Windows "just like all the PC manufacturers use" and the license key was hand-written on a scrap of paper? Ok, I'm exaggerating, but everyone knows what an OEM sticker looks like - Thurrott must have bought a laptop with Windows pre-installed; he may build all his own PCs, but he must have worked on a friend's PC, or handled an OEM-built PC in someone's office. All these computers will have a proper OEM licence sticker on them - stuck on the underneath of the laptop, for sure; on many PC towers I see nowadays the sticker is on the top of the PC, right at the front, but they're rarely hard to find. Microsoft deliberately make these stickers distinctive and hand to fake - the one I have here even has hologramming along the edge.
If Thurrott bought this copy of Windows for an article then he would have kept the receipt to claim against tax. And I concur entirely with Kosmosik that if he was burned by a retailer sending him a dodgy copy in this way then he'd be shouting their name to the rooftops! Also, as a tech-savvy computer professional * cough* there's no way he'd throw away the original disk and license number that they sent him - it's obvious that you might need it to reinstall some day, and it's no effort at all to drop the disk in a file or folder with all your other software licenses.
So something here really doesn't add up. He might not be prepared to admit that this is a copy he pirated because he didn't have the MSDN subscription disk handy at the time, but that's the only conclusion I can come to.
Stroller.
Err... (Score:2)
Re:Loyal fan (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Loyal fan (Score:4, Funny)
Send me a low fee of $9.95 and I'll send you an Knoppix Genuine Advantage copy. Afterall, you wouldn't want the BSA* to come after you.
*Bull Shit Artists
Re:Loyal fan (Score:4, Funny)
*shrug*
Re:Loyal fan (Score:5, Informative)
Similar restrictions apply to direct copies of the 'Official' Release CD of OpenBSD (I've personally bought two releases retail).
And hearkening waaaaay back, I remember in the mid 90's attending a Red Hat Linux event at a reserved hotel meeting room, where I asked the Red Hat marketing woman if I could make copies of my brother-in-laws Red Hat 5.0 retail CD set. She just gave me this uncomfortable look back like it wasn't a sincere question on my part.
Re:Loyal fan (Score:2)
For redhat, the situation
Re:Loyal fan (Score:2)
Re:Loyal fan (Score:2)
Not quite. The layout of the official OpenBSD CDs is copyright Theo De Raadt and replication is not allowed. Theo's never actually enforced this, but does point out that if you get CDs from an unofficial source then you can't be sure that they haven't been tampered with.
You can download a boot-only CD and do an FTP install from that, however.
Re:Sorry, But I can't believe it (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Artificial solution to an artificial problem (Score:2)
Yeah, what happened? (Score:2)
2. Paul assumes not that his copy is pirated, but that it is a WGA bug.
3. Microsoft notifies Paul that his copy is pirated.
4. Paul believes his copy is pirated.
What changed between 1 and 3? Just that a person was telling him (using another automated WGA tool), rather than WGA telling him?
So Paul didn't bother to think about whether he might have bought a pirated copy, until MS told him to think about it?
Re:Where has it been proven? (Score:2)
A good thing about the diagnostics tool is that if it does report that it's not genuine, it'll tell you exactly why. For most of the non-genuine copies it reports "Blocked VLK", VLK meaning volum
Re:Where has it been proven? (Score:2)
Of course he had to give in to microsoft, as their product can't be incorrect, can it? This way,
Re: Attestation (Score:2, Interesting)
My initial opinions:
Microsoft: Huge company, containing some reasonably intelligent technical crews with a history of sloppy execution, hampered by an albatross code legacy, and a com
Re:I'm c alling bullshit! (Score:2)
They got that information how exactly?
M$ bribed the judge, and my case for slander, extortion, and price fixing never went to trial.
Who do you know that?