Microsoft sued 8 eBay pirates

Microsoft sued 8 eBay pirates
Microsoft said on Wednesday that it has filed lawsuits against 8 individuals it alleges to have sold pirated copies of Microsoft software on the online auction giant eBay. The company closely monitors auction sites for counterfeit software and along with many other companies, works closely with eBay to catch the sellers. These suits are intended to act as deterrents against other eBay users who might be tempted to do the same.

Seven of the individuals came to Microsoft's attention after some users ran the Windows Genuine Advantage check on the Microsoft download site. The program is intended to block many of the downloads from individuals using pirated software and has helped Microsoft track down some sellers of counterfeit goods worldwide.



The company also said that complaints regarding some of the 8 individuals had also been submitted to the company's anti-piracy hotline.

Source:
News.com

Written by: James Delahunty @ 16 Mar 2006 7:46
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  • 46 comments

  • Rotary

    kool

    16.3.2006 07:57 #1

  • c4iscool

    people can be so dumb.

    16.3.2006 08:40 #2

  • Mik3h

    Maybe if the prices weren't so high?

    -Mike

    16.3.2006 10:49 #3

  • vegeta66

    why even buy windows its way too over priced.... use linux or mac os

    16.3.2006 11:30 #4

  • hot_ice

    I am not sure why anyone would sell pirated possessions on Ebay.

    Some people just want to be arrested.

    16.3.2006 11:40 #5

  • hot_ice

    Oh! And lest I forget, Microsucks windows genuine advantage can be easily bypassed. You just block the darn thing from running.

    Not that eitherway Windows is worth it, because it is a piece of crap anyways.

    It seems to me sometimes that piracy is more important than solving murders, and I ask myself where have we gone wrong.

    On the other hand, if the government was replaced by a corporation, and we were all its employees and some outsiders would try and disrupt the company...I am fairly sure that the corporations would crucify them lol.

    16.3.2006 11:44 #6

  • iccee

    I think if you have every bought anything digial on eBay, you have gotten something pirated... This really amuses me as I have gotten DVD's and such that claimed to be real and were bootlegs. The quality was fine and all, but I did contact one guy and said I wanted shipping costs back since they were copied. I quickly was refunded shipping charges, but he got to keep the auction price and I kept the DVD's...

    Not sure what that has to do with anything, but yeah...pirates are all over eBay...I think it is funny that someone is getting busted over it for once...

    16.3.2006 15:00 #7

  • S2K

    If microsoft did NOT go after these guyes everyone would be screaming at microsoft.

    To me the genuine advantage is a consumer protection, that it caught these morons is great.

    16.3.2006 15:21 #8

  • david100k

    ebay i full of guys trying to make a quick buck me and my freind bought 5 complete seasons of star trek "am not i geek i just find it cool :)" about 500can that's kanuk money for you americans for a total of 250 dvds they worked fine just one of them was the wrong show :) damm those asian bootleggers

    but they where bootlegged so i had to burn them all

    riaa might be watching ...

    16.3.2006 15:29 #9

  • S2K

    but they where bootlegged so i had to burn them all
    riaa might be watching ...

    it is the MPAA and they could care less about the buyer.

    16.3.2006 15:53 #10

  • hankchill

    STALL0WN3D!!1!

    16.3.2006 18:36 #11

  • randbluth

    16.3.2006 19:22 #12

  • randbluth

    and what was that "wrong show?"

    16.3.2006 19:24 #13

  • Dude2099

    this is pretty funny considering half of all games and movies sold on ebay are pirated.

    16.3.2006 19:45 #14

  • johnodd4

    lets see here

    windows $99.99

    mac os $129.99

    linux $500.00 for a good distro

    hmmm windows even illegally sounds better and cheaper to me besides no body uses the product verification online they just go onto p2p networks and download updates that way screw microsoft if there software didn't have so many bugs it wouldn't be pirated so much

    16.3.2006 20:14 #15

  • Dude2099

    you dont even need to go to p2p programs you can turn off wga in IE. lolz

    Will it ever happen....

    16.3.2006 20:19 #16

  • Rotary

    Dude2099 (Member) 17 March 2006 1:19
    you dont even need to go to p2p programs you can turn off wga in IE. lolz
    -----------------------
    you tried updates lately?

    16.3.2006 21:19 #17

  • tazzie1

    Aaargh - Ahoy Matey! Shiver me Timbers. We'll make that scurvey dog Bill Gates walk the plank to Davey Jones locker. Where's me rum and parrot?

    17.3.2006 02:04 #18

  • punqewe

    Most of the winXP versions that I had that didn't pass the test on the update page would still accept the updates through automatic updates. A little bit of a hassle,but one the less got the job done.


    Also where I live WinXP pro is about $450.00 canadian,MacosX is about the same and linux is about 2/3-1/2 of the price as them.

    If anyone is completly broke,just ask ubuntu to send you some free disks. Even if you don't like the ditro,free is always good. (unless it's free AIDS)

    17.3.2006 03:40 #19

  • randyz48

    i feel if ms brought the price down to where more people could afford to buy windows xp then it would cut down on the piracy. this would go for all software. you see i am severely disabled and a parplegic from waist down and on a very low fixed income and it is so hard for me to buy programs i could use because the prices are so high. so i just do without them.
    randy

    17.3.2006 04:43 #20

  • S2K

    besides no body uses the product verification online they just go onto p2p networks and download updates

    no offense but that isn't true in the least.

    17.3.2006 04:47 #21

  • Awoll1

    Wow... guess i need to come in and clear things up a bit... first off... if your machine fails the genuine advantage program... the computer will still take all critical updates.. just not the extra ones, also you can not download other free software titles.. like windows media player 10.. things of that nature. Also.. you can get legit copies of windows xp for $99. Its called OEM software .. requirements are purchasing at least one piece of hardware related to a new system.. mobo.. cpu.. hard drive.. As for ebay priates.. it does kind of anger legit users that sell or have ebay stores... when some one priates software titles it makes it harder for legit compainies to compete.

    17.3.2006 06:28 #22

  • Briantgb

    Anyone who buys pirated software and uses it where others can identify it are asking for trouble. For
    randyz48, check out removed You can get all the cheap software you want, (and it all works) just use it privately. My main complaint with MS is that after about 6 acctivations you have to go through the phone process to get the dam thing to work. When you buy a car you dont have to ring up the manufacturer after 6 starts to get permission to use it.

    17.3.2006 10:39 #23

  • 1Adonis4u

    Good, these idiots deserve that and more. One thing is downloading something for yourself and another is to try to make a profit from someone else's product. Good or bad, no one has the right to profit from a product that doesn't belong to them.

    Why do some always bring up crappy Linux and Mac every time Microsoft is mentioned? Linux is garbage, not user friendly at all.

    That's all for now,
    Adonis

    17.3.2006 13:39 #24

  • neurokasm

    Anyone stupid enough to do that deserves to be sued.
    Quote:if the government was replaced by a corporationThe government IS a corporation...

    17.3.2006 13:42 #25

  • punqewe

    Quote:Linux is garbageThat's relative to the work that you do.

    17.3.2006 13:53 #26

  • kingsklub

    Microsoft updates can easily be obtained without using the windows genuine advantage on some websites that I have found recently!

    Bill Gates and his greedy stockholders can take a fucking flying leap!

    17.3.2006 15:08 #27

  • jdwinty

    Microsoft can burn in hell forever and ever. When it was exposed years ago in california that their profit point begins around $37.00 for a $130.00 product, they lost my vote. Greed in this country is a horrible thing but i am not about to extoll my disdain on someone who uses a product or worse still sells a pirated version of that product (which is just plain stupid) compared to a company who actively has sought to screw over consumers, screw over competition and all the while do it with a smile. I can understand a person who is greedy (to an extent)but in this country a corporation exists in every legal way as an actual person and that corporate person has more rights than any individual on the street. The people that sing the graces of Uncle Mickisoft are the same people who think Jim Carey should get 20 mil a picture or Shaquille should get 115 mil contract all because they CAN ask for it and yet at the same time bitch and moan about cable, movie, dish rates constantly going up. They can wallow in their ignorance but for me, give me the red pill.

    17.3.2006 16:18 #28

  • JohnT

    Gee I am really out of touch and a different generation. Yeah we were told if it doesn't belong to us we don't take it and many of us stil live by that rule. Of course the ME generation thinks everything should be free; enough said.

    17.3.2006 17:08 #29

  • jdwinty

    wow...never met anyone in that generation before.....i thought this was America...the land of COVETING what they neighbor had and then buying something even better. Consumerism and Materialism abound in this country where some people get a deal and most everyone else gets stiffed in one degree or another. One day when you wake up and realize your water is costing you 3.00 a gallon and your legs tire from all the bicycle peddling while you car rusts in your garage, then come back and tell me about your wear it on your sleeve integrity!

    17.3.2006 18:10 #30

  • JohnT

    It isn't about being stiffed, it is about honesty and integrity. It is about knowing the simple difference between right and wrong, and for some it is about the McNaughton rule or Twinkie defense, depends on perspective and real values in life. To each his own.

    17.3.2006 18:30 #31

  • jdwinty

    When does honesty and integrity come into play when corporations maintain a bottom line by not following this little thing we call ethics? Will you say enough is enough when these greedy giants fill your life so full of their shit even you cant stand the smell or will you just sit there continuing to gobble it down with an "opie" smile in one hand and a thank you in the other. Let's be real, every product has a fair value and a fair profit. If loan companies cannot charge you beyond a certain interest rate without the govt stepping in, why can a company like microsoft effectively charge for something that is really beyond its value with any similar reproach? Do i think everyone should go out and steal their products? No, i think they shouldn't buy them in the first place. Do i in the very least feel sorry for Microsoft because someone steals their product? Not in the least bit! Last point.....i love how the older generation loves to impugn the "new" generation for stealing MUSIC (another consumer ripoff) by downloading MP3s but somehow manage to take small issue about taping stuff off the radio or from a friend or taping shows and football games off tv.

    17.3.2006 20:05 #32

  • oddessy

    Government is Big business and Big business is Government. Greed is run by Big business and Government. Anybody who has money can run a business or go into politics.

    I agree, why are some of the software so pricey?
    Not everybody can choose what software they want at the price they can afford unless they have the money to buy a legal copy which will cost a week's wages or two. Most of my hard earn cash is going in my gas tank.

    Unfortnately, everybody wants something for nothing.

    18.3.2006 01:49 #33

  • oddessy

    Unfortunately, everybody wants something for nothing
    or should I say
    Fortunately,everybody wants something for nothing---
    or
    Somebody wants everything for nothing.

    18.3.2006 01:57 #34

  • UkSheep

    i get every piece of ms software for free completely legit, got to love msdn

    18.3.2006 06:10 #35

  • JohnT

    It is up to each individual whether they have a fabric of character and values or can always argue that it is big brother or the companies cheating them so why not? I love the Opie analogy funny but not true. Many like myself protest, write letters to our elected officials, use consumer action groups, and are wise enough to use the free software that is open source. Not having a conscience is and individual thing. Like I said earlier to each his own, but one does have to admit society digresses with greed not just from corporations but from each person with those acts. One other thought on a Capitalist society, prices are based upon what the consumer will pay in a free market. If a higher percentage quits paying for inferior software you can bet the price will come down. Yeah Microsoft has become a real corporate monopoly, but eventually what goes around comes around.

    18.3.2006 09:05 #36

  • joe777

    Robin Williams on bill gates " bill people say you are trying to hold the monopoly in the computer world " bill replies " monopoly is only a game I am trying to take over the Fu88ing world"

    Bill hicks said "wake up america, you are free to do what we tell you to do"

    now right from wrong good from bad. So who decides what. Me I will watch a few eppisodes from bill hicks then make my own mind up as I go along. No fixed set of rules for me ladies and gents. Theres no book can explain all decisions to be made. Every set of circumstances are different while they will make rules for us and then change to suit themselves and we are mere mortals. Sorry half of you are mere mortals. Me am just me.

    18.3.2006 10:28 #37

  • jdwinty

    i certainly dont have faith in any kind of cosmic karma John nor do i think that millions of people will wake up anytime soon. Apathy and Attributional bias blind most people on issues such as the one we are discussing (including those with intentions such as yourself).
    On topic i dont have any sympathy for those who sold pirated goods (anyone should know better and they were asking to get caught and your statement about people wanting something for free (in that case a living) holds true. I do not, however have such disdain for those who run a corporate version of xp while shelving their licensed version because they feel MS activation is invasive and a burden or even to those who have a crappy computer they scratched together and are running a downloaded version because they cannot afford another $100. Microsoft should tap in the marketplace and provide a product (perhaps without the frills and very basic) for around half that. I think most would agree that piracy (at least in the US) would go down substantially for their product. Did you know that 42 state governments and almost all state universities local colleges use MS products? That sort of thing kind of puts you over a barrel if you are on a budget and literally need it for only a couple of projects during a semester or need it to open some state file you downloaded (thankfully pdf is being embraced more and more and MS viewers are out there).

    18.3.2006 13:30 #38

  • myndphuk

    Before pressing 'Custom' or 'Express' buttons paste this text to the address bar and press enter:

    javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all')

    It turns off the trigger for the key check.


    On another note, people really do use the official windows update to officially update their computer (that's ironic hey). If they had bought a copy of Windows and they didn't suspect they got a pirated one, of course they are going to be pissed off and complain to Microsoft. I just hope those people that complained got a real copy of the OS.

    18.3.2006 14:59 #39

  • flip218

    Briantgb,

    Don't post that site again please

    AMD X2-4400, MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum, XP Pro SP1
    1GB Corsair XMS PC3200 (2-2-2-5), ATI X1900 XTX
    74GB Raptor & 250GB SATA, OCZ 520W ModStream

    Dell™ 8250, Pentium 4 3.06GHz HT, XP Pro SP1
    1.5GB RDRAM (PC1066), 256MB ATI X850 XT PE
    HD's 1TB (4x250), Plextor PX-716A, Lite-On 167T

    Forum rules!! http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487

    18.3.2006 16:04 #40

  • flip218

    Well what pisses me off about MS is they make us pay $299 for XP Pro and if you know someone at MS you can get it for $35. If you want Office Pro it will cost you what $500? I can get it for $65 .. that is why people pirate MS products.

    AMD X2-4400, MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum, XP Pro SP1
    1GB Corsair XMS PC3200 (2-2-2-5), ATI X1900 XTX
    74GB Raptor & 250GB SATA, OCZ 520W ModStream

    Dell™ 8250, Pentium 4 3.06GHz HT, XP Pro SP1
    1.5GB RDRAM (PC1066), 256MB ATI X850 XT PE
    HD's 1TB (4x250), Plextor PX-716A, Lite-On 167T

    Forum rules!! http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487

    18.3.2006 16:07 #41

  • jdwinty

    I had a friend whose computers i worked on and her fiance worked for microsoft. I got a 3 pack of XP Pro for nada and yet i still hate the freaking company.

    18.3.2006 16:18 #42

  • paul1085

    Hell!! The point still remains the reason why everbody pirates stuff is because everthing is just SO damn expensive (especially in England!) and lets face 97% of people England/America DO own some kind of pirated software wether it be DVD, PS2, XBOX, PS1, MP3's etc etc.

    19.3.2006 00:06 #43

  • WarForOil

    Sorry john t, the "me generation" are you american my friend?, "the land of the free" well as you say its not right to steal, know the difference between right and wrong, well look to the whitehouse my friend, we need oil we go kill a few thousand folks and take it.Is that the same Goverment who says to download a song is stealing, is it okay to invade a country on account they have some oil, killing innocents lives both your own brothers and sisters regardless of whos side you take, come on my friend theres worse crimes being commited than a someone who is on the breadline stealing a song or downloading some bad quality movie.We as a world have to share this planet together regardless of your color faith etc, big corporations run goverments to benefit themselves without any regard for anyone else, lets change that attitude before we do anything else, lets get equality among our fellow manwoman and share the wealth of the world nefore we go chasing people in poverty to feed the rich.Greed is a drug that we allow our goverments to spread throughout the world, it will end when 1 man has everything and everything is destroyed.

    20.3.2006 02:10 #44

  • GregI

    i wish i could be at a microsoft conference and post this up.FUCKING BRILLIANT FOIR ALL THOSE PEOPLE THAT HATE BILL GATES.

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1960403143809172490&q=bill+gates


    ITS JUST HIM GETTING HIS HAS HANDED BY A US LAWYER OR SOMETHING WHEN MICROSOFT GOT LABELLED AS AN ILLEGAL MONOPOLY.

    20.3.2006 08:28 #45

  • hot_ice

    Monopolies stifle progress. There is no way around it.

    The electric company is a monopoly. Oh! There aren't alternatives to electricity? Look up radiant energy, it was devised a long time ago but however, free energy for profit only companies doesn't appeal to them.

    The banks, ever asked yourself why they control the interest rates? Last time I checked, corporations shouldn't control what happens in our economy.

    In every facet of our daily lives, we live in a world riddled with monopolies, and that in effect, stifles any new ideas that could potentially revolutionize humanity.

    First, a patent will only be considered if it is profitable. If it benefits humanity for free, it will never see the light of day.

    So does that say about us as a race? We are greedy. Perhaps not all of us, but most of us yes.

    But the real question is, why don't we protest against monopolies? Are we just too comfortable settling with what is already out?

    Thats the real question...

    Monopolies will be the death of our species, already multinationals and corporations and etc, are effectively draining all our ressources and in the end the environment will buckle on us, and humanity will be a past memory.

    20.3.2006 09:28 #46

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