Microsoft Not Too Happy About Leaked Windows 7 OEM Keys
Microsoft Not Too Happy About Leaked Windows 7 OEM Keys
Posted 07/31/2009 at 2:15pm
| by Andy Salisbury
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In the wake of a leaked master OEM key from Lenovo, Microsoft is hoping to prevent a piracy free-for-all of their soon to be released OS.
The master key that was leaked has since been blacklisted and replaced, and Microsoft is reportedly working very close with Lenovo to insure that there won’t be any activation issues. “We've worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating their copy of Windows 7,” said Alex Kochis, Director of Genuine Windows at Microsoft. “At the same time we will seek to alert customers who are using the leaked key that they are running a non-genuine copy of Windows. It's important to note that no PCs will be sold that will use this key.”
Now that the can of worms has been contained, there’s little worry from Microsoft that piracy will be an issue due to this key. But, they’re undoubtedly very unhappy about the leak up in Redmond.
Image Credit: Microsoft
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domih2009
August 01, 2009 at 1:01pm
...the UNIX Desktop is still an elusive proposition.
We need Linux Activation so that we know where our Linux comes from.
Even better, how about an OpenBSD Genuine Advantage program. That's would be even more secure.
:)
:))
:)))
n0ctis
July 31, 2009 at 7:12pm
After testing the crap out of the RC for months, this is the first Windows release I feel ok paying for.
________________________________________________________________
.: vires et honos :.
schmitty6633
July 31, 2009 at 5:30pm
Pirates may get a free OS but they can never feel self assured. With a pirated copy you are never sure it will stay activated, with a legal copy you can rest assured it will always work. Plus you get the nice box :) jk
dgourd
August 01, 2009 at 6:06am
I've had many of problems with my legitimate key. I had to get a new one like 3 times from Microsoft. Even though I bought my key, I don't feel assured. However, Microsoft tech support was nice and they solved my problem quickly everytime.
valtonray
July 31, 2009 at 4:27pm
well of course they are unhappy about the leak and should haved fined lenovo for allowing it to happen, maybe then they would keep a tighter rein on things. ms has worked hard to put out what may be their best os to date, they are offering it at a very competitive price point and yet people are still pirating it. there is no good excuse to not reward a comapny for their hard work. now i've used "illegeal" copies before myself but only on a few rare occasions and only on oem machines where for one reason or another i lost the ability to reinstall the factory os but in those times i only used the version that had shipped on the computer.
damicatz
July 31, 2009 at 5:47pm
And then it'll just get cracked again.
For all the effort Microsoft makes to treat its users like criminals with crap like activation and assorted DRM, it gets cracked in a week. Idiots.
Caboose
July 31, 2009 at 8:41pm
You have to activate your cell phone on the network before you can use it. Yes, even if you use a GSM phone.
You almost sound like the people I used to deal with when i worked for HP that would refuse to give their name or phone number because they were paranoid "That the goverment is watching them with their satellites!".
I see nothing wrong with activating a copy of Windows. And I don't feel like I'm being punished for being a legit customer either. It's the insane and crazy ratiolization that people like you use, to justify stealing games, softwre, music and movies!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
damicatz
August 01, 2009 at 9:25pm
You know, it's pointless to argue with your kind anyways but I'll bite.
Though next time, I'd suggest attacking my argument and not me.
1.Windows
7 is not a cellphone network. Apples and oranges. You are comparing
authorizing a phone to use a network to authorizing a product to run at
all.2.Activation doesn't always work. Remember the whole WGA
fiasco a few years back where legal users of Windows were locked out
because WGA suddenly deactivated their copies of Windows after deciding
they were illegal?3.Microsoft can choose to stop providing
activation in order to force you to upgrade to a new version of
Windows. Do you think they will continue activating Windows XP after
the extended support period? Vista?4.Changing hardware can
cause Windows to deactivate. This is only a problem for someone who has
a legal copy of Windows. You could upgrade your computer and find that
Windows has deactivated itself.5.Violation of "Imaginary
Property" laws is not theft. In order for something to legally be
considered theft in civil court (either trespass to chattel or
conversion), you have to deprive or interfere with a person's possession of a chattel. Merely making a copy of something does not deprive someone of a chattel, tangible or intangible.The actual copyright is a chattel. If someone converts (steals) your copyright, that is theft (conversion). However stealing a copyright is not the same as violating a copyright. Using forged documents to unlawfully transfer someone else's copyright to yourself is stealing a copyright. Making unauthorized copies of something protected by copyright is violating the copyright. Only the former is considered theft under the law.
Even the courts have ruled on this :
interference with copyright does not easily equate with theft, conversion,
or fraud. The Copyright Act even employs a separate term of art to
define one who misappropriates a copyright: ... 'an infringer of the
copyright.' ...The infringer invades a statutorily defined province guaranteed to
the copyright holder alone. But he does not assume physical control
over the copyright; nor does he wholly deprive its owner of its use.
While one may colloquially link infringement with some general notion
of wrongful appropriation, infringement plainly implicates a more
complex set of property interests than does run-of-the-mill theft,
conversion, or fraud.—Dowling v. United States, 473 U.S. 207, pp. 217–218
The appropriate term is "copyright infringement". Not
theft. Not piracy. Theft, piracy and "Intellectual Property" are
propaganda terms used by big media.
lien_meat
August 03, 2009 at 10:22am
I probably will end up using a cracked version of windows 7.
I've already bought the upgrade in advance (cause it's a decent deal) so I'll have a legitimate copy, but my legitimate copies of windows always have issues.If I upgrade/change my hardware, I've found that I all the sudden need to re-activate.
If I need to re-install, I have to re-activate, and sometimes I have to call MS cause the key has "been used to many times" even though it's only been used on that one computer.I used a cracked version of XP despite owning a legitimate copy for this very reason. (I own vista, but hate it, and don't use it anymore)
I've actually had very little problem with the cracked version. It hasn't de-activated yet, even after upgrading/changing hardware several times.
I often use one of my pc's to diagnose problems with other people's hardware (by swapping parts if necessary).
This is a real pain if I have to re-activate every time I try something like this...and I WONT stand for it.
A cracked version usually isn't affected. There are LEGITIMATE reasons for disliking windows product activation...and I believe that my experience on the matter is proof...I wish MS agreed.PS. Genuine Advantage is kind of pointless I think. It's never provided me with any advantage that I've been able to notice. I think it's MS's biggest practical joke ever.
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