Microsoft exec talks about piracy 'benefits'

Microsoft exec talks about piracy 'benefits'
While Microsoft Corp. has an agressive anti-piracy campaign currently in effect worldwide, a senior executive has admitted that software piracy ends up benefiting the company in the long run. Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes believes that piracy of the Windows operating system can lead to legitimate software sales later on, with some pirates who would otherwise not use Microsoft software becoming paying customers in future.

"If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else," Raikes told delegates at last week's Morgan Stanley Technology conference in San Francisco. Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) currently checks Windows installations and alerts users of illegitimate license information. The campaign, while receiving criticism for major problems associated with it, even for legitimate users, is directed mostly toward weeding out sellers of pirated Microsoft software.



While Raikes estimates that about 20% - 25% of software in the U.S. is pirated, he makes an argument that in the long run, it can have benefits. "We understand that in the long run the fundamental asset is the installed base of people who are using our products," Raikes said. "What you hope to do over time is convert them to licensing the software."

He also said that anti-piracy efforts must focus on turning a user into a paying customer rather than pushing them away. "You want to push towards getting legal licensing, but you don't want to push so hard that you lose the asset that's most fundamental in the business," he said.

Source:
The Register


Written by: James Delahunty @ 13 Mar 2007 20:33
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  • 23 comments
  • pollution

    This is the exact words from Bill Gates mouth that are quoted about piracy but he Bill was talking about the Chinese pirating. Maybe I could pull the book up but the library has 4 floors of books.

    13.3.2007 20:44 #1

  • goninjago

    "with some pirates who would otherwise not use Microsoft software becoming paying customers in future."

    --Right. You mean, become a paying customer as in "Hey, man, can you get me a VLK for that pirated copy of Windows you gave me?" Sure, Microsoft, whatever you say...

    13.3.2007 20:57 #2

  • Blackjax

    Yep you pay for it alright. Pay for it when you buy it, when you get viruses, when you get spyware, a hijacked browser,...... aw forget about it the story is already well known. Nice try M$ lower the price on your "finished" os's and maybe you would get more su....errrr....customers. You know the old saying fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me.

    13.3.2007 21:28 #3

  • BobbyBlu

    See this is why i dislike Microsoft they have too many chiefs in one tribe.This company views be spit like hell thank god the U.S government stop them from becoming a monopoly.They were just Bitching about Vista a few days ago.If piracy helps you in the long run why have a aggressive anti-piracy campaign & people say Sony tell lies.

    http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/8726.cfm

    13.3.2007 22:06 #4

  • Unfocused

    This kind of makes sense. I was seriously thinking about getting a real store bought copy of Vista until MS f'd that OS up with all of the DRM.

    Pricing needs to come way down if they expect users of pirated software to ever go fully legit. Last time I checked on Amazon.Com, a Vista Premium and Office 2007 bundle was $999 with FREE shipping.

    Let’s think about this. A Cool “G” or 1 hour of downloading? A pirate may eventually go legit, but everything has a price that is just a little more than somebody is willing to pay.

    13.3.2007 22:34 #5

  • Andrew691

    I would say once people realise the piece of crap Vista is it will them more inclined than ever to be pirates, if they payed anything at all for their OS then they would know its not worth anywhere near the price it sells for and just use one of the many easy to use WGA/activation cracks out there and never give it another thought. It will also make them wary of being ripped of for other softwares thus making them pirate more, how is that good for M$?

    14.3.2007 00:19 #6

  • vdawg1

    Piracy does benefit the company. Do you know why? Because microsoft can track illegal versions of their software on computers connected to the internet. How do they get rich? Sue the people who have these copies. Wow profits start soaring in from legal cases. Way to go MS for going the route of Youtube haters.

    14.3.2007 04:26 #7

  • SProdigy

    Yeah, I have a retail copy of Vista Ultimate that I got very cheap with a bundle pre-sale and admit that I don't even want to install it yet. I really want to try it out, and figure out what is compatible and what is not. However, I don't want to screw up my main system which is only a few months old. So I would rather install it on my old system, but with all the DRM, I cannot legally install it on the old one and then expect to remove it later and install on my new system. That's a load of crap. If someone pays the money for the operating system and the key that goes with it, they OWN that copy. I know they are trying to curb users from installing on multiple machines, making copies, etc. but this just makes people like me look for a VLK and/or crack just to sample this damn thing. Oh yeah, and getting the illegitimate version to work is frustrating enough at times. Really makes me want to recommend Vista to others.

    14.3.2007 04:56 #8

  • TyMan4325

    I actually agree with his statements. Here's a situation that happened to a "buddy". He gets a copy of Photoshop from another buddy. He installs it, hearing about what it can do. Once trying out the application he finds that he has no idea how to use it. It takes him three years to become proficient and use its most powerful features and now that a new version is on the horizon he is probably going to go out and buy it because he sees what he is paying for. Where as the noob would have no idea why someone would want to buy such high priced software.

    I know this doesn't directly apply to Vista and windows but I agree that piracy can lead to future customers.

    14.3.2007 08:26 #9

  • eiffel65

    Yeah, what they said.

    My mIRC channel (Only on EFnet): #eiffel

    14.3.2007 13:20 #10

  • kriotyx

    I've gotta say that I, too, agree with at least the general thought. The idea extends beyond software, even. I know I've purchased music before after hearing things I first found on p2p networks.

    Ah, p2p... the world's biggest sampler disc...

    14.3.2007 21:00 #11

  • BobbyBlu

    Originally posted by vdawg1:Piracy does benefit the company. Do you know why? Because microsoft can track illegal versions of their software on computers connected to the internet. How do they get rich? Sue the people who have these copies. Wow profits start soaring in from legal cases. Way to go MS for going the route of Youtube haters.
    But rule number 1 if you have a cracked version of windows dont have it connected online.I dont know about how vista crack works but the only way M$ catch you if its register online for windows update.On a cracked version of windows you can't update no way thats the down side about the crack.Thats what i hear but if im wrong someone correct me because this has been like 3 or 4 years ago.

    14.3.2007 23:25 #12

  • janrocks

    D'ya know something.. I was reading all the above when something slapped me in the face.
    If you want to write your own software they are shutting you out of the loop... All this DRM in vista has an alternative and insiduous purpose which seems to have either been hidden, or has been overlooked by the majority..

    What happens if.. You want to make dvd's from your family holiday, birthdays, parties, and not liking the commercial software and being a bit of a programmer you decide to write your own dvd authoring and editing tools. You then try to use these same tools you have written on a vista machine (after the full implementation of WGA and all the rest of the "trust not the user for he be a pirate.. arrr!" junk) and because they are not signed as valid they don't work.
    You are then left with 3 choices.. go out and buy commercial "approved" software which will probably cost a fortune and report everything you do with it to the MPAA.. give up and get a life.. or get a pirated cracked version of vista with the wga and everything else disabled..

    There is obviously another choice which nobody in their right mind will take.. you can send your application, and it's source code free and gratis to M$ for them to sign it approved and genuine. Then sit back and see how long it takes for them to add it into one of their packages, slightly re-engineered, make your original certificate invalid so that it no longer runs and force you to buy your own work (slightly modified) back from them..
    Crazy?? They have stolen plenty of ideas and code from people before. Now with the anti-trust and anti-competition rulings which they have ignored, and which haven't ever been enforced they think they have carte blanche to do anything they please.. including treating you, the customer, as an automatic criminal and pirate.

    This whole thing is a dangerous situation for everybody using a computer. Why have M$ never bothered about people using free pirated versions of their os before.. purely because by doing so they have gained a 90% share of all home users. Now they are trying to insist you pay.. pay to a monopoly for creating a perceived "no alternative" situation..

    Boycott the whole thing. Anybody with any sense needs to do this, dump all M$ product and make it known that it is unacceptable for big business to behave in this exclusive and anti-competitive way.

    When you buy a car you have a choice, when you buy beer you have a choice, when you buy a tv or dvd player you have a choice... but when you buy a computer it comes with WINDOWS VISTA.(which includes a nice fat kick back to the retailer, or penalties if not sold with)... no choice!!



    irc.OFTC.net #debian-women .. Stuff Vista.. Stuff Micro$oft!!
    The revolution has happened.. Now we just need to TELL people!

    15.3.2007 05:00 #13

  • error5

    Originally posted by janrocks:When you buy a car you have a choice, when you buy beer you have a choice, when you buy a tv or dvd player you have a choice... but when you buy a computer it comes with WINDOWS VISTA.. no choice!!You will still have a choice with Dell. They'll start offering desktops and notebooks with Linux instead of Vista:

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129363-c,linux/article.html

    Quote:Dell to Sell Linux PCs
    Customers convince Dell to plan a new line of Linux-loaded desktop and notebook computers.

    Todd R. Weiss, Computerworld
    Monday, February 26, 2007 10:00 AM PST


    After collecting some 1,800 new product and service ideas from IT users and customers using an online "suggestion box," Dell Inc. has announced that it's taking the user suggestions seriously and will soon debut and sell a new line of certified, user-ready Linux-loaded desktop and laptop computers.

    The Dell IdeaStorm Web site, where customers and other IT enthusiasts can offer recommendations about future Dell products and configurations that they'd want to buy, was started on Feb. 16 by CEO Michael Dell, who is looking for ways to re-energize the company's sales and financial performance after several disappointing quarters.

    One post that got a lot of interest was the idea that Dell bring back a reasonably priced laptop computer that runs Linux.

    Just a week after debuting the IdeaStorm site, the company said Friday night that the Linux-loaded desktops and laptops will be the first user-generated suggestions that it will follow.

    "It's exciting to see the IdeaStorm community's interest in open-source solutions like Linux and OpenOffice," the company said in a post on the Web site. "Your feedback has been all about flexibility and we have seen a consistent request to provide platforms that allow people to install their operating system of choice. We are listening, and as a result, we are working with Novell to certify our corporate client products for Linux, including our OptiPlex desktops, Latitude notebooks and Dell Precision workstations. This is another step towards ensuring that our customers have a good experience with Linux on our systems."

    The company said that other Linux distributions were also suggested by users, and that Dell will look into possible certifications with other Linux brands across its product lines.

    And while earlier Linux-based machines didn't exactly set the company's sales charts on fire, several IT analysts and Linux luminaries said conditions are better for Dell to try again.

    ....

    A Microsoft spokesman could not be reached for comment.

    15.3.2007 05:15 #14

  • janrocks

    hehehe.. probably because the Dell e-machines aren't capable of running anything more than vista basic..

    See.. Consumer power in action. Unfortunately Dell are not a high street retailer.



    irc.OFTC.net #debian-women .. Stuff Vista.. Stuff Micro$oft!!
    The revolution has happened.. Now we just need to TELL people!

    15.3.2007 05:23 #15

  • BobbyBlu

    Originally posted by janrocks:D'ya know something.. I was reading all the above when something slapped me in the face.
    If you want to write your own software they are shutting you out of the loop... All this DRM in vista has an alternative and insiduous purpose which seems to have either been hidden, or has been overlooked by the majority..

    What happens if.. You want to make dvd's from your family holiday, birthdays, parties, and not liking the commercial software and being a bit of a programmer you decide to write your own dvd authoring and editing tools. You then try to use these same tools you have written on a vista machine (after the full implementation of WGA and all the rest of the "trust not the user for he be a pirate.. arrr!" junk) and because they are not signed as valid they don't work.
    You are then left with 3 choices.. go out and buy commercial "approved" software which will probably cost a fortune and report everything you do with it to the MPAA.. give up and get a life.. or get a pirated cracked version of vista with the wga and everything else disabled..

    There is obviously another choice which nobody in their right mind will take.. you can send your application, and it's source code free and gratis to M$ for them to sign it approved and genuine. Then sit back and see how long it takes for them to add it into one of their packages, slightly re-engineered, make your original certificate invalid so that it no longer runs and force you to buy your own work (slightly modified) back from them..
    Crazy?? They have stolen plenty of ideas and code from people before. Now with the anti-trust and anti-competition rulings which they have ignored, and which haven't ever been enforced they think they have carte blanche to do anything they please.. including treating you, the customer, as an automatic criminal and pirate.

    This whole thing is a dangerous situation for everybody using a computer. Why have M$ never bothered about people using free pirated versions of their os before.. purely because by doing so they have gained a 90% share of all home users. Now they are trying to insist you pay.. pay to a monopoly for creating a perceived "no alternative" situation..

    Boycott the whole thing. Anybody with any sense needs to do this, dump all M$ product and make it known that it is unacceptable for big business to behave in this exclusive and anti-competitive way.

    When you buy a car you have a choice, when you buy beer you have a choice, when you buy a tv or dvd player you have a choice... but when you buy a computer it comes with WINDOWS VISTA.(which includes a nice fat kick back to the retailer, or penalties if not sold with)... no choice!!
    Good post Janrocks but why in the world just about all PC have windows OS ? If someone wanted to boycott them what would our options be?

    15.3.2007 06:06 #16

  • error5

    Quote:If someone wanted to boycott them what would our options be?Linux...

    ...or a Mac.

    15.3.2007 06:09 #17

  • BobbyBlu

    Quote:Linux......or a Mac.Oh hell no i guess i will be a slave to Microsoft then...Hey error5 respond to this for me please.

    http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/481696

    15.3.2007 06:33 #18

  • Andrew691

    Quote:Originally posted by vdawg1:Piracy does benefit the company. Do you know why? Because microsoft can track illegal versions of their software on computers connected to the internet. How do they get rich? Sue the people who have these copies. Wow profits start soaring in from legal cases. Way to go MS for going the route of Youtube haters.
    But rule number 1 if you have a cracked version of windows dont have it connected online.I dont know about how vista crack works but the only way M$ catch you if its register online for windows update.On a cracked version of windows you can't update no way thats the down side about the crack.Thats what i hear but if im wrong someone correct me because this has been like 3 or 4 years ago.
    There is a site (maybe more than one) that has a Firefox plugin that actually scans what updates you have installed and gives you an option of what you want to install, basically Windows Update just run by someone else. But they key feature is no WGA they host all the update files themselves so no more M$. If anyone knows the site ive lost the address, also not sure if they have it for Vista yet.

    15.3.2007 15:47 #19

  • janrocks

    Hehehehe.. I install cracked copies of xp for people all the time. They are called OEM versions, and no comebacks as I have disabled talkback and auto updates. I don't believe it is worth paying for, and the average user is too thick to use anything else (not a good opinion of the average computer shop customer, but an opinion. take it or leave it)
    I don't personally use the crap, and I think anybody with a computer should really be a little more clued up.



    irc.OFTC.net #debian-women .. Stuff Vista.. Stuff Micro$oft!!
    The revolution has happened.. Now we just need to TELL people!

    16.3.2007 15:10 #20

  • jameslf

    "When you buy a car you have a choice"

    No, you don't.

    What car company offers you a choice of the software that comes installed in the machine's chips and boards?

    18.3.2007 03:44 #21

  • liquidous

    im sure most know this but some oem makers have made it impossible (by hardware / chipset) to install XP back on a system that already had VISTA on it.. we bought an hp laptop expecting to install XP Pro on it until VISTA can mature in a few more months, and when we tried we were met with a bad blue screen giving us some excuse.

    i think this should be illegal~

    18.3.2007 12:34 #22

  • z9999

    Buying a MS OS is a little like submission to an absolute ruler. Perhaps MS has existed based on a vision that software bugs, and glitches are a necessary means of maintaining control? A bug free OS that never required constant updates would give an advantage to piracy. To allow them to exist makes users dependent on being able to retrieve frequent fixes allowing MS to place most effort in modifying it's WGA process to try and improve what they feel is the most important piece of code contained in their OS. MS's OS places too many limitations on what the user is allowed to do. While it may be necessary for gaming purposes due to so much proprietary code, those who are not primarily gamers can easily get by, actually excel, by installing a Linux variation instead.
    A while back I talked a friend new to computers into installing a Linux OS, and he is very happy with it, and I find very little difficulty in making a move from a Windows version of SW to a Linux version in helping him learn to use his system. After nearly a year now he has not experienced any problems at all, while I am constantly spending more time on OS maintenance than productive work. I am currently in the process of moving all files to external HD's in order to install Linux on my systems.
    I will concede that there is a learning curve to Linux, but it is not about basic system use. Linux provides many enhancements that do not exist in MS OS's. Primarily in the terminal screen, similar to what used to be the DOS commands. There exists some very powerful commands that I find very helpful allowing me to use a computer like they used to be used. Sometimes pointing and clicking is not the best answer for accomplishing a necessary task, and shell scripts which can be easilt learned are very useful and productive. I want my kids to learn to make use of a computer, while Microsoft has moved computing to a new plane where MS makes use of the users. I seldom run into a computer user who knows much, if anything about getting full value from their computer any longer, but in the Linux forums I find that these people still exist. Not meaning to put down Windows users at all, as I place the blame totally on MS. I might add that I began with an Intel 8008 CPU, and things were much different in those days.

    31.8.2007 22:27 #23

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