Windows 7: My Windows 7 copy looks fake. Typo on back cover. Came from China.

Sir you obviously sound like a person who has never been taken advantage of or even been ripped off in your entire life. If this case, you are in a very rare extremely small group of people who have avoided this unpleasant situation.

For the vast number of everyday honest consumers who go about their business of shopping for genuine products at a discount, i.e. like I did with Photoshop, you shouldn’t expect to be ripped off or robbed for doing what is totally legal.... shopping for a discount!

I'll admit I don't shop e-bay because of all the horror stories I hear, but on the other hand I'm not so blind to the fact that there are thousands of sellers there who are totally legal and authorized to see goods and services.

Since e-bay is a legally recognized company, the OP has a legal right to shop there for a discount on goods and services and not expect to be rip-off!

You point is well taken and agreed on that software companies lose millions to piracy/counterfeiting rings. I just think you're putting too much blame on the OP without knowing all the facts.

In short you’re making a presumption that the OP did something wrong by shopping e-bay, and should have expected to be ripped off for shopping there. Wow.

BTW you can get counterfeit software from authorized reputable vendors as well. It’s been known to happen from time to time.

Anyway we'll agree to disagree agreeably and move on

Peace

[QUOTE=sygnus21;1168338
Anyway we'll agree to disagree agreeably and move on

Peace [/QUOTE]

Absolutely! Peace to you too.

Purchasing a product from any 3rd party vendor is still caveat emptor. The OP has recourse, but he's still ultimately responsible for what he has purchased once the goods have changed hands. Again, the OP does have some recourse with Microsoft and maybe with the legal system, but most likely not with eBay (as they are only a facilitating 3rd party) and likely not directly with the seller without legal assistance if he wanted to go that route.

I wish the OP good luck in resolving the issue and empathy for being taken. However, always remember caveat emptor, especially on eBay or in countries with known high piracy rates. A typo on something as well-checked and marketing-driven as a Windows box is a pretty tell-tale sign, honestly, that things are definitely on the up-and-up.

I'm afraid I am going through he exact same situation, with the exactly the same product characteristics, bought on ebay, passed all the genuine tests, looks legitimate, but when you look at the back of the box...the exact same typo.

But if it passed all "genuine" tests, wouldn't it be genuine? If not, then, MS "genuine tests" would be pretty much useless.

I know, doesn't make sense to me at all! I purchased my copy from ebay as well from a user that only had positive trading points, but from what I gather... I was a bit naive.
The only proof I have that the software I purchased is not legitimate are the same issues pointed out here.. typo errors in the back on the CD box..as well as a very badly printed user manual.

Microsoft doesn't check the key itself, it checks the product ID and an activation hash the system generates when it activates. If it matches a valid PID and hash the servers doing the activation are written to deem valid, the product activates - however, if someone leaks a key or uses a Technet/MSDN key on hundreds or thousands of machines (whatever the threshold is - I'm making that up for dramatic effect ), that hash is eventually deemed pirated, marked invalid, and activation on a machine using a leaked key to generate that product ID and hash will fail on the next checkin once t he key is blacklisted.

The key *is* a real key - it's just leaked or used in scams, and is made invalid once MS catches on.

Im sorry but i cant see why this subject is even on this forum
Its not a hardware/software problem is it ?
Why havnt you got in touch with the seller and told him your not pleased and ask for a full refund OR
Why havent you taken it up with Ebay
And surely you paid via Paypal...if so make a claim
Worst comes to the worst call the police

Sure it is - its a software problem. People come here for advice and help, and we try to give that to them. I think its a legitimate concern that they are trying to address and get resolved. Perhaps they may eventually get back in touch with the seller, but they are allowed to do their home work first to establish their position.

Regards,
Golden

Thank you for your suggestions Oadbylad, I hope that Pedro Monteiro will seek recourse from the seller and eBay and PayPal and perhaps even the police, and I would also advise him to do so.

I'm so glad we have a forum where people can share all kinds of distressing computer related issues, so that not only might they be able to receive some help and guidance (and sympathy), but the discussion could prevent people (like you and me) from encountering the same kind of problem in the future. And by the way, Oadbylad, this is the General Discussion section, which means exactly that: general discussion about issues that are NOT hardware and software related.