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Microsoft Piracy Security The Courts Windows

Microsoft Sues Activation Key and Token Sellers For Enabling Customers' Piracy (torrentfreak.com) 41

Posted by msmash from the tussle-continues dept.
Software sold by market leaders tend to be primary purchases for regular consumers. Brand comfort is important but so too is affordability, especially when pirate copies are available for free. Some find a middle ground with purchases of discounted activation keys but, as a new Microsoft lawsuit shows, that can amount to copyright infringement for buyers and sellers alike. From a report: In a complaint filed at a Washington court this week, Microsoft targets Canadian company The Search People Enterprises Ltd (TSPE), assumed director Mehtabjit Singh, and 'John Doe' defendants 1-10. The defendants are described as prolific distributors of "black market access devices," aka activation keys and tokens for Microsoft software. Those who bought keys and tokens may have been under the impression that they were purchasing official software but as Microsoft explains, that is not only misleading but a mischaracterization of the things they were sold.

Products including Microsoft Office, Project, Visio, Windows 10, and Windows 11 are all subject to licensing terms that restrict how the products can be used. Microsoft can also provide a product activation key to be entered as part of the installation process, with data about the activation sent to the company's servers. Like software tokens, which enable downloads and automatic software activation, activation keys are anti-piracy tools, and exchanging money for them is not the same as buying a license. Indeed, Microsoft makes itself very clear -- the activation of a piece of software means nothing in the absence of a license. Microsoft's problem is that product activation keys can be 'decoupled' from the software they were meant to authorize and then reused to activate more copies of the software, in some cases more copies than the attached Microsoft license permits.
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Microsoft Sues Activation Key and Token Sellers For Enabling Customers' Piracy More

Microsoft Sues Activation Key and Token Sellers For Enabling Customers' Piracy

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  • I figured the worst thing that could happen was it was a scam and I'd complain to eBay and get my $5 back. Yeah, you probably guessed it, the seller sent me a leaked volume licensing key that someone had previously posted on Twitter. I half expected it to be the 3V66T generic key, lol.

    Did end up getting my $5 back after I complained to the seller that I knew it wasn't a legit key.

    • so in other words, you knew that the key was very likely not legit, but bought it anyway "why not, maybe it works"?

      • so in other words, you knew that the key was very likely not legit, but bought it anyway "why not, maybe it works"?

        I think you're reading your own words into OP's post. He said if it was a scam he'd just complain to eBay (and it was). If the seller emails you a Volume License Key then its a scam working or not. But he might have been selling a license he owned and didn't need (though the astute will know MS claims the license for Windows lives and dies with the machine. We need to test that in court though.)...

      • so in other words, you knew that the key was very likely not legit, but bought it anyway "why not, maybe it works"?

        The listing description said the W10 Pro key was unique and legitimate. The only suspicious part was the price, but considering that I've gotten some Walmart clearance deals that were 90% off (yes, seriously), it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. I wouldn't have wasted my time if the listing itself had anything sketchy in it.

        • Software companies are asking to be kicked in the teeth for all the licensing restrictions they place on software. For one, software should not be restricted from resale, if the purchaser paid a one-time fee. The First-Sale doctrine should apply to software. I understand the drive to prevent mass-copying, but a license should be a transferrable asset. Software companies that sell permanent keys should be restricted from preventing you from selling that key to someone knew, provided you agree to stop using i

          • Other companies have tried the resell idea. You call in and de-register your copy, then give them the new owner's information. They invalidate your key and contact the new owner with a new key. The idea wasn't that popular and required a lot of overhead to work. Hard to justify $1000 in support costs for a $100 resell option they don't get any additional money from.

            Also, by the time you want to resell your license, it probably isn't being supported or isn't the newest version. The software company woul

        • > The listing description said the W10 Pro key was unique and legitimate

          have you ever seen someone selling a license and acknowledge that it's not unique/legitimate?

  • Poor unsuspecting customers... (Score:5, Funny)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @03:33PM (#62784452)
    ...suddenly realised that they'd installed Windows on their machines!

  • I don't use licenses and Win 11 is available w/out (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Products including Microsoft Office, Project, Visio, Windows 10, and Windows 11 are all subject to licensing terms that restrict how the products can be used.

    I don't know about the others, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case for Windows 11.

    I have been looking at buying a new computer, and unlike previous ones, I actually want someone else to build it, so that I just plug it in and install Ubuntu. One of the things I'm encountering that I had kind of forgotten about, is that unless you buy from System 76

    • Re: (Score:2, Redundant)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )
      I assure you, Windows 11 is subject to license terms. The OEM you bought the PC from purchased the license through a OEM program with Microsoft, which comes with a ton of license terms they have to abide by. That license is already tied to the PC you bought before it ever left the factory. Had you booted up your new PC and let Windows load, you would have been put into the "Out of Box Experience", which runs on all new Windows installs. Part of the OOBE is a screen with the license agreement screen and you
      • Those terms are between the OEM and Microsoft, and certainly not anything this AC ever agreed to.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by EvilSS ( 557649 )

          Had you booted up your new PC and let Windows load, you would have been put into the "Out of Box Experience", which runs on all new Windows installs. Part of the OOBE is a screen with the license agreement screen and you would have been required to agree to the license before it let you into the OS proper.

          Read past the first sentence.

    • No, there's no such thing as a purchased Windows, or any software really. The only thing making it illegal to copy any software is copyright law, unless it's unreleased and you hack your way into someone's computer to get access to it or something — but that's illegal whether you copy anything or not. The only way you're ever "buying" the software is if copyright is transferred to you.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nadass ( 3963991 )
      You can buy a new Dell PC and customize it to NOT have Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows, or third-party Anti-Virus software suites pre-installed.

      Your final purchase price would be similarly reduced to recognize the non-purchase of the associated software licenses.

      Said different: You purchase A LICENSE to the software (as an end-user) and NOT purchasing the software (ownership and control as a business owner or intellectual property owner would, like when they purchase a software maker).

  • But they work (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @03:58PM (#62784510)

    I have bought some $9 Windows 10 Keys online and they work, you punch it in and Windows activates, updates fine and I have not had one revert it's activation. I have had a couple not work and the seller will send you keys until one days. Would it work a second time, even on the same machine? Don't know but for $9 it kinda doesn't matter.

    On the one hand I understand, too good to be true probably is, but this isn't hacking or anything, this is Windows fresh from Microsoft's own ISO tool and just putting characters in the box. If this both works 100% and is also "illegal" maybe don't have a licensing system so labyrinthine and opaque that this scenario is possible?

    • Come on, people. Stop acting like you had no idea your $9 keys weren't legit. You sound like Capt. Renault discovering that Rick's has a casino in the back. I'm not trying to be the morality police, but don't act shocked that the key you bought off some shady Website was taken out of a volume license. And saying its Microsoft's fault for the fact that the key worked? Isn't that a little like justifying shoplifting by saying the store should have installed a better security system.
      • So you are saying once someone pony's up $99 for a license, they should not have the capacity to sell it at discount to someone else if they no longer have a need for it?
        • First of all, that's how a license works. I'm not saying I agree with it, but Microsoft doesn't actually sell you a product, they sell you a non-transferable license. And once you've activated your key, I don't think it'll work again. The keys in question here are coming out of volume license agreements and these companies will pretty much send you keys until one works. What you're talking about is first sale doctrine. So you're point is moot.

          Second of all, more than one poster here has purchased a
          • The confusing thing is you can go to a store and buy a used game for far less than it is sold new. The game works, and you have a right to buy it. The OS should not be different, and because you donâ(TM)t actually have to buy a disk, shouldnt matter for first sale. Once you pay Microsoft for the product, you should no longer have a relationship with them, and what you paid a one time price for should be yours to do with as your please, including sell to someone else.

      • Stop acting like you had no idea your $9 keys weren't legit.

        You know what's not legit? Permitting Microsoft to make Windows keys non-transferable. That should not be a thing. It's a big part of what enabled them to anticompetitively abuse their market position with OEMs in the first place.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by marcle ( 1575627 )

        I bought my Win10 key online for $5. I was under no illusion that it was legitimate, but it worked just fine, and the installation has been solid for years and accepts updates. If I'm ripping off Microsoft, I frankly don't give a damn. I've paid them plenty of money in the past, and they don't exactly respect their customers anyway.

        • And I honestly have no problem with you, or anybody that says, "$99 is absurd, I'm buying the $5 key." My little rant was simply about the posters that seem surprised their $5 key isn't legal and then blame Microsoft for not beefing up their security.

      • So there is a YouTube channel, "Yes Tech City", who had the same doubt. In a video, they called up Microsoft support, where they learnt that if windows got activated, that means it's legit, by definition.

        Yes, each support representative is not omniscient, but what else can you expect an honest customer to do ? One called up Microsoft support, others saw the video which had millions of views, Microsoft still does not publicly oppose that video. If that is not proof, what is ?

    • If this both works 100% and is also "illegal" maybe don't have a licensing system so labyrinthine and opaque that this scenario is possible?

      That's victim shaming isn't it? Just because someone else hacked the activation scheme and figured out how to generate keys doesn't mean that the vendor should have made a better licensing scheme. No software, no matter how complex has been shown to be immune from key fraud. The only work around is hardware dongles, and is there really a difference to your "bought from the back of a white van" scenario as to whether you get a software key or a hardware dongle?

      Careful what you wish for.

      • The only work around is hardware dongles, and is there really a difference to your “bought from the back of a white van” scenario as to whether you get a software key or a hardware dongle?

        Yes. Hardware dongles are much more easily transferred to the secondhand market. Pulling license dongles out of broken PCs suddenly becomes a viable small business opportunity. Licenses for old versions that someone needs for an obscure workflow suddenly become hot commodities. How is this a bad thing? Especia

  • I saw:

    Microsoft Sues Activation Key and Token Sellers For Enabling Customers' Privacy

  • Microsoft created this situation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by tiqui ( 1024021 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @04:33PM (#62784608)

    For decades, Microsoft has profited from a particular business model which included these install keys and activation schemes. It seems to have suited them perfectly well to allow vendors to ship systems with software installed that even activates but without the end user having obtained a license - and it's not like the software was written by somebody else and Microsoft had no control over the mechanism. Microsoft claims to have the best software development team on the planet, and they surely have massive resources, so they have been fully capable of creating a different install/authorize scheme. Indeed, they could make it so a new PC Windows install pops-up a start screen telling people to get out a credit card and call Microsoft to get a license on an unlicensed machine - but of course then that would have angered customers who would have complained to their PC vendors, who might then have steered customers to alternatives like Linux...

    Any judge on this case should toss it, and tell Microsoft to go make software that does not encourage this activity and does not leave consumers with any confusion about "Authorized" vs "Activated" vs "Licensed" etc. The taxpayers and their courts should not be wasting time on this apparent attempt by one of the planet's richest companies to tweek its business model and marketing loopholes.

  • The keys they sell don't seem to be cheap (Score:3)

    by whoever57 ( 658626 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @04:37PM (#62784618) Journal

    I look a look at the website of the company that is being sued. Unless there are some under-the-table deals going on, the prices for the keys on the website don't seem to be particularly cheap.

    It's here:
    https://softwarekeep.com/ [softwarekeep.com]

  • A long time ago I used to care. I wouldn't even consider a pirate copy, until I got burnt 3 times. The first time was with Windows 95 where the media was corrupted. I returned it to the store and they replaced it with a second corrupted disk. I brought it back and they then tested another one on their own system and that one failed as well. They would only offer me store credit which was useless because I had a system that wouldn't work and had to fork over more money at another retailer.

    On another occasio

  • This is predatory, monopolistic behavior. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CAIMLAS ( 41445 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @05:08PM (#62784686)

    Fix your shit, Microsoft. If it's supposed to be anti-piracy, then maybe make it not suck at any sort of enforcement? 3-person development teams figure this out.

  • Wait, this [slashdot.org] wasn't a scam, was it? It was featured on a reputable site :-) .

  • It depends on location and the kind of license key (Score:3)

    by vyvepe ( 809573 ) on Saturday August 13, 2022 @07:45AM (#62785758)
    E.g. it is legal to resale Windows Retail license key in EU. There is some European directive forcing software sellers to allow it.

  • are all subject to licensing terms that restrict how the products can be used

    "Licensing" is the tool being used to ameliorate any control you have over things you buy. Wait until they figure out how to inject code into your house, at which point they'll tell you how to live, after all their right to tell you is "in the license".

    If we'd learned anything over the last 200 years, once money changes hands, you're free to use the thing you bought to serve your own (legal) interests, in any way you can use it. I

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