Microsoft goes after pirates who allegedly activated 'thousands of...

[A Guy]

Microsoft goes after pirates who allegedly activated 'thousands of copies' of Windows, Office

Microsoft has asked a federal judge permission to serve Comcast with a subpoena to identify alleged software pirates who have activated thousands of copies of Windows 7 and Office 2013 using stolen or abused codes, according to court filings.

"For an unknown period of time -- but for at least the past three years -- the Infringing IP Address has been used to activate thousands of Microsoft product keys," Microsoft said in a March 4 motion to a Seattle federal court.

Those keys had been stolen from the company's supply chain, used more times than legal, were actually keys assigned to someone else or were activated outside the geographic region they were intended for.

Source

A Guy

 

[essenbe]

Good for them!

 

[whs]

I wonder how much they can do if this activity comes from another country that does not cooperate.

 

[Layback Bear]

I hope the judgement goes in the favor of Microsoft.
Trying to stop counterfeiting is a good thing.

 

[whs]

I hope the judgement goes in the favor of Microsoft.
Trying to stop counterfeiting is a good thing.

Absolutely. Unfortunately it is not such an easy matter to get at these guys if they sit in Kyrgyzstan or some other remote country. Or try North Korea.

 

[derekimo]

Who ever has that Comcast IP address is who they are targeting, that is, to the best of my knowledge, somewhere in the U.S.

 

[whs]

If you are right Derek, then they have a good chance to get the issue resolved. But they can always pop up from some other corner. In any case, it would be good if they could stop the pirates.

 

[derekimo]

I'm going by what the article said, I don't think Comcast has internet service outside the U.S. and the article is about a single IP address,

...but for at least the past three years -- the Infringing IP Address has been used to activate thousands...

 

[michael diemer]

Intellectual property theft is reprehensible. They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

 

[AddRAM]

Finally, someone will go after those nasty people off the coast of Somalia, it`s about time.

 

[whs]

Those are different kinds of pirates. The funny thing is that most nations (even Japan) have war ships in the area to control those pirates. But they do nothing. One Apache helicopter would suffice to sink their mother ships. The problem could be solved in 1 hour - but no, we are too civilized. Could be a good shooting practice - also for the subs.

 

[groze]

Am I reading the article correctly? It is activating Microsoft windows 7 & other Microsoft stuff from a different IP? I see that as impossible. The only possible way would be someone unknowingly got a modified version of Microsoft Windows 7, xp, office, etc... that would connect to that IP instead of the correct activation IP.

 

[z3r010]

Am I reading the article correctly? It is activating Microsoft windows 7 & other Microsoft stuff from a different IP? I see that as impossible. The only possible way would be someone unknowingly got a modified version of Microsoft Windows 7, xp, office, etc... that would connect to that IP instead of the correct activation IP.

It looks like somebody is running a KMS server for illegal activations, that sort of thing has been going on for years.

Have a read of this it should explain the basics - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff793434.aspx