> If you were Microsoft and could prove that the box builder > was doing > this, send your lawyers after him. No argument there. But this is not > the case. >
In two cases I actually called the M$ AntiPiracy line. One case was where a former lawyer (barred for multiple DUI convictions and lying in court with client cases) in the Rochester, NY, area got into the PC support and the Workstation & Server building business. He would license MSDN, then use MSDN licenses to load up the OS and Apps, then charge the End User for the OS and software. I saw him do this time and a again with a client of mine when I first came out to Rochester. I asked him how he was able to install multiple OS and Apps on machinery he built with the same Key Code. That is when he told me he used MSDN, and he was entitled to do so. I advised him MSDN (back then) was for up to 10 machines, and only machines used for development, not used for production. He told me he was an attorney by trade, and knew the law, and what he was doing was legal, even if M$ said it wasn't (huh?, okay...). What irked me was his cost basis was very low on a per PC/Server basis for the software, and he was charging full retail to the End Users. So, yes, I called M$ to rat him out as I felt what he was doing was truly abusive, and unfair to a friend of mine who was proposing PCs with legally licensed M$ software, and kept getting undercut by about $800 per PC. What do you think M$'s response was? "Uh, okay, we will look into it." I asked the M$ rep when I could expect to hear anything, and also wanted to make certain my tip was going to remain anonymous. He told me it would be kept anonymous, but it would likely not matter anyway as it was doubtful M$ was going to do anything for such a small problem as what I had reported! Apparently they are more focused on larger institutions where the punitive settlement would make it both worth their while and wildly profitable with forced licensing for past use on top of the punitive monies paid out. I had heard rumors of that being the prevalent attitude over the previous years, but I finally hit that attitude head on. I was disgusted. There is also another business in the Rochester area where the owner was bragging to an employee (who later got fired) that he had made copies of Win2k, and Office 2000, and had installed copies on every PC of his (home and business), and had been making copies for some business associates to use throughout the country. In his business alone he had no less than 40 PCs, and at least one Server. The guy is known for running his operation in a bent way (surprise, surprise), and had asked my friend to do some things that were clearly illegal and in flagrant violation of his franchise agreement (distributing manufacturer parts imaging data to independent 3rd party parts suppliers). She refused, and got fired on the spot when she told him that what he asked her to do was illegal, that he knew it, then expounded on how his copying of M$ software was also clearly illegal, and he really ought to properly license all that before someone runs him in. When she came to me looking for a reference, I asked why she got canned. When she told me I gave her the M$ AntiPiracy #, then we called together. Amazingly I got much the same answer as before, not worth their while, do not expect anything to come of it. So, I am no longer looking to help companies enforce their license fee requirements beyond advising clients of mine of what they should be doing. In all my contracts I have a paragraph that covers the responsibility my clients have when it comes to properly licensing software, where to generally find such license requirements, and that they agree to make a good faith effort to remain properly licensed with all software, not just what I am bringing to them and using on their machines for my processing. If ever a software company comes after anyone I do business with I now have a document that clearly shows where I had covered that with them, so nobody can implicate me in any possible improper licensing activity. Beyond that I now follow the , "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" line of thinking. I will advise and suggest, but it stops there. It just is not appreciated nor worth my effort, and with WGA it really is no longer needed for M$ software. I do not like what M$ has done with WGA, but they have pulled in the low hanging fruit that was previously not profitable enough to rightfully gather up. That they end up impacting those of us that do try to remain properly licensed is a shame, and just one more reason for me to keep migrating to an environment where I do not have to deal with their model. They will need to gather the small fry via WGA, because I sense there is an exodus underway of folks looking for ways to cut M$ out of the software picture in part because of how they have been treating their legitimate customers. Treat me like I may be a thief, and by golly I will go somewhere where I am not treated so. Gil > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Ed Leafe > Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 9:43 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [NF] Windows Genuine Advantage suffers worldwide > outage,problems galore > > > On Aug 27, 2007, at 9:23 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Ed, when you install the software use that is what was planned. > > What if one of your kids gives a copy away to a friend? I believe > > they are concerned with this process. Now take it one level > > higher, a box builder who buys one copy of winders and installs it > > over and over onto each box said box builder creates and sells. > > So because there are people who are not honest, everyone > should suffer? > > If you were Microsoft and could prove that the box builder > was doing > this, send your lawyers after him. No argument there. But this is not > the case. > > > XP has the potential to be deactivated but have you every heard of > > that happening? I mean an actual case of you know the people > > involved? I know of two boxes that still have the windows nag > > screen about unauthorized product. It still works, it just nags > > the user every so often. > > Yes, I have had experience with that. Being known as the local > computer geek means that when someone in my circle of friends, or in > each of their circle of friends has a problem, I usually hear about > it. The most recent one was a company laptop that stopped working > while the guy was away on a trip, and frantically called me from > Florida to ask me what to do. And yes, it was a perfectly legal copy > that just decided to deactivate itself for no reason that either we > or Microsoft could figure out. > > > Personally I'd love for a friend to purchase a new car and then > > burn me a copy of it. ;-> > > Ah, so you're finally starting to get the idea that digital items > are different than physical items. Maybe you'll finally be able to > drop the misleading comparison to taking physical items when > discussing this issue. > > -- Ed Leafe > -- http://leafe.com > -- http://dabodev.com > > > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
