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Wall Street traded companies are forced to branch out in all sorts of odd and interesting ways, but a ruthless drug cartel selling pirated copies of Microsoft Office? That’s just bizarre!
According to the New York Times Microsoft showed off several unauthorized copies of Office 2007 on Friday at the Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy in Paris, and the disks were branded with the rectangular “FMM” logo used by the La Familia organized crime group. Mexico’s attorney general confirmed that some Mexican drug cartels have “sophisticated distribution networks”, some with more than 180,000 points of sale sprinkled throughout the country.
John Newton of Interpol claims that organized crime groups weren’t targeting Microsoft specifically, but that groups like this are attracted to “low-risk, high-profit crimes”. This makes software piracy a tempting target, and one that is expected to get worse in the years to come.
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benjerome
February 09, 2011 at 3:18am
I use open office it meets my need and i do not spend a dime on it.
Athlonite
February 07, 2011 at 10:34pm
In latest news Mexican drug cartels are pissed at Microsoft for now offering 1KG bags of heroin or cocaine for just $9.95 they can be found at all the usual MS outlets world wide and will be available in 5 different flavours
OEM= 1KG Cocain or horoin + 1 straw
business 1KG cocaine or heroin or 50/50 + 10 straws and abillity to purchase more lisenced straws as required
Home 1KG cocaine only + 1 to 3 straws for family use
Ultimate 1KG cocain or Heroin + 1 straw + 1 multiuse hypodermic needle + 1 pipe (Ultimate extras available razor blade and mirror + alchol wipes for easy clean up)
Starter 500g heroin (plain brown wrapper) + 0 straws
Yusonice
February 06, 2011 at 5:41pm
Those who buy those copies are really stupid!
1)They can get the same copy from isohunt/thepiratebay for free.
2)Office 2007 is outdated!
3)even 2010 copies can be updated
Neufeldt2002
February 06, 2011 at 6:18pm
You could claim that those that buy MS Office are stupid as you can get Open Office or LibreOffice (Offical Fork) for free legally.
thetechchild
February 06, 2011 at 5:47pm
For one, you'd need access to the Internet, and to those specific websites to get it for free. I've no idea about censorship or Internet availability, but the need for Office doesn't imply Internet access. If you were talking about a pay-to-play MMO or something, then that'd make more sense. Censorship of pirating websites is still a concern even with Internet access, though. Of course, I'm not entirely sure about availability in Mexico being an issue.
Also, with files in the range of 100s of MBs, you have to consider that the convenience of just buying a CD trumps downloading for hours. Especially if you have dial-up or something.
ShyLinuxGuy
February 06, 2011 at 4:32pm
If they wanted to, they could've edited the splash screen to include their logo to add a personal touch ;-)
I guess this is a "low-risk" crime, because Microsoft hasn't initiated much (if any) action against the pirates of their software, surprisingly. I mean, they are apart of the BSA and all, but there hasn't been any headlines about MS filing lawsuits against pirates and wrongful distributors. You would think that the price of Windows or Office (at least $150) would prompt MS to initiate legal action against illegal distribution and repeat offenders, yet the media companies who sell $0.99 songs and $10 movies are whining big time, and the pr0n industry is now joining the bandwagon.
d3v
February 07, 2011 at 3:38am
Piracy prevents Linux and other open source software from getting a foothold in developing country markets. So that is why Microsoft doesn't try too hard to stop piracy. The idea is to get people hooked to commercial software. Its a long term strategy. In the long term incomes will rise and people will be able to afford to pay for licensed software. In the short term you can still sell your software to large companies and government departments.
Piracy also ensures that poor countries have very little incentive to develop their own software. If Linux were the only affordable option a lot of programmers would be working on it and that would lead to a large base of experience programmers in poor countries. These same developers could, in time, create a cheaper alternative to Windows and other commercial software. So that is another reason why Microsoft doesn't try to stop piracy.
schneider1492
February 07, 2011 at 10:10pm
no, i agree with him, from both a business and financial stand point it makes sense. look at how mutch money the entertainment industry spends on fighting piracy, they pay billions to sue for thousands and loose money fighting a loosing battle. i for one don't want to pay the entertainment industry to go out and sue some person living off welfare to get the money the government gives them out of my tax dollars. I'm sure Microsoft realizes if you added the number of copies pirated up it would still pale in comparison to how many copies they sale to a single large company. Microsoft always has had a "relatively" laid back attitude towards such things. when Kinect got hacked the first day what did Microsoft do... nothing! when the PS3 got hacked what did Sony do... they put a back door that allows them to take over your system and removed other OS. its going to get them sued just like the 2005 XCP fiasco. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft funded projects to covertly distribute unlicensed copies to developing countrys, or at least donate windows and/or office to one of those one computer per person programs.
