Dale Mentzer wrote:
I have no idea if anyone here knows the answer, but I need to ask anyway.
(And it's not Dales mail I'm actually responding to either.)
>A second layer of protection is the certificate of authenticity, or
>registration tag, which OEMs and system builders will be required to
>attach to the specific PC where Windows or Office is installed.
How is this any protection at all? I once had a "SB AWE32" sticker on my
machine but that didn't change my SB16 to one ;)
Doing the same in the registry or wherever isn't hard to do.
>When users boot up the Office 2000 software for the first time on a
>machine, the registration wizard will require them to contact
>Microsoft -- via the Internet, email, phone, fax, or snail mail -- and
>get the second half of a registration key that matches their software
>certificate. If this registration process isn't completed, the
>software will stop working after it's been launched 50 times.
So, one uses the same key used by someone else (as is the case with almost
all of the pirated programs anyway). Aah, I remember when one turned to
page 45 and found word 4 on the 14th line ;-)
>The registration key will only allow users to install the Windows
>software on one machine, and Office on two machines. There will be no
>such restrictions, however, for network managers and others who buy
>licenses which permit multiple installations.
And how can this be checked? I can't see any way that two machines that
aren't connected together in any way will be able to see that the other
already has an installation?
Perhaps it's just me, but this article looks more or less like a
pressrelease from M$ where the author hasn't checked things up with other
sources.
>In 1999, Microsoft confiscated 4.3 million units of counterfeit software,
Carriker >said.
I wasn't aware of the fact that M$ now also was the police in the US? If
this was true then we should all be afraid (especially those on the list
living in the US).
//Bernie
http://bernie.arachne.cz/ DOS programs, Star Wars ...
