If Microsoft does not like piracy, why does it not...

... tell pirates to pirate other people's software? They already have WGA which they seem certain is capable of identifying systems running pirated software. Why not take it a step further and tell the pirates to use some other operating system? There are plenty of good alternatives whose creators would love to have people pirate more often:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

http://www.gentoo.org/

http://www.freebsd.org/

Honestly, if Microsoft does not want people using their software without paying, it would go long way toward stopping that if they were to send their pirates elsewhere. If they do not want to do that, they could start distributing Windows for free like Canonical distributes Ubuntu, although I imagine that would defeat the purpose of trying to convince people that only those who give Microsoft money should use Windows.

WTF?

Look up some Bill Gates quotes on piracy. Microsoft very much rather people pirate Windows then use other OSes. Either way they make $0, but with piracy at least they get the lock in / marketshare advantage, so it is not an entire loss.

PaoloM said:

WTF?

ditto, WTF.

How about Adobe tell people stop pirate Photoshop and use the free Paint .Net instead? I really want to say something, but, they are common sense, which is hummm.......... do I need to really explain common sense? No, I am too lazy to do that. Just a WTF is good enough for the reply.

magicalclick said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

ditto, WTF.

 

How about Adobe tell people stop pirate Photoshop and use the free Paint .Net instead? I really want to say something, but, they are common sense, which is hummm.......... do I need to really explain common sense? No, I am too lazy to do that. Just a WTF is good enough for the reply.

 

WTF^WTFWTF

Bass said:

Look up some Bill Gates quotes on piracy. Microsoft very much rather people pirate Windows then use other OSes. Either way they make $0, but with piracy at least they get the lock in / marketshare advantage, so it is not an entire loss.

It seems unethical to me to have things both ways. Do you see no ethical issue involved with a company complaining about software piracy while its reap the benefits of having paying customers because of the mindshare that the piracy created in the first place? It seems like an attempt at double dipping to me and that occurred to me today when I was curious about the fate of the Leveno Windows 7 OEM master key, found a news article about it and then saw about 1000 comments following it where people were begging for other people to help them pirate Windows.

Seeing people beg with self-degrading language that required no more sophistication than what a 1st grade reading level provides was pathetic and it would do everyone involved a favor if someone sent them to either Linux or BSD. To make matters worse, the article was published before Windows 7 reached RTM last year, yet people were still posting self-degrading comments there today.

My first thought when seeing those comments was that they could either pay for it or go to either Linux or BSD. Having copies of Windows 7 will not revolutionize their lives, but had I not known better, I would have thought otherwise from the degree of begging, which is what inspired this post.

I've got a better idea. Instead of sending pirates on another course, Microsoft should harness there computer to solve problems, like folding @ home. This works great when a person is not in front of the thing.  When someone is in front of it, make them identify things in pictures to improve Bing image search or have them fill-out recaptcha requests to digitize old books and magazines.

Hell, if they are going to steal crap from you, you might as well steal crap from them.

-Josh

Shining Arcanine said:

Bass said:

*snip*

It seems unethical to me to have things both ways. Do you see no ethical issue involved with a company complaining about software piracy while its reap the benefits of having paying customers because of the mindshare that the piracy created in the first place? It seems like an attempt at double dipping to me and that occurred to me today when I was curious about the fate of the Leveno Windows 7 OEM master key, found a news article about it and then saw about 1000 comments following it where people were begging for other people to help them pirate Windows.

 

Seeing people beg with self-degrading language that required no more sophistication than what a 1st grade reading level provides was pathetic and it would do everyone involved a favor if someone sent them to either Linux or BSD. To make matters worse, the article was published before Windows 7 reached RTM last year, yet people were still posting self-degrading comments there today.

 

My first thought when seeing those comments was that they could either pay for it or go to either Linux or BSD. Having copies of Windows 7 will not revolutionize their lives, but had I not known better, I would have thought otherwise from the degree of begging, which is what inspired this post.

Look, I'll make it simple for you so we can set this once and for all.

Why do you think people pirate Windows?

PaoloM said:

Shining Arcanine said:

*snip*

Look, I'll make it simple for you so we can set this once and for all.

 

Why do you think people pirate Windows?

Probably the same reason they watch amputee midget porn; there is something innately screwy with their internal wiring. 

EDIT: I was expecting midget to be on the channel9 naughty words list. Hey Charles, do you want to add that one?

JoshRoss said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

Probably the same reason they watch amputee midget porn; there is something innately screwy with their internal wiring. 

 

EDIT: I was expecting midget to be on the channel9 naughty words list. Hey Charles, do you want to add that one?

While disturbingly amusing your reason is , the answer is a bit simpler: people pirate things that people want. And they go to great lengths to pirate things they want, and they just don't want to get things they don't want, even if they're free.

I have to admit, it surprises me every time I read about piracy rates for Windows. I mean, there's a reasonable alternative completely free and still... people just don't want it.

Have you lost your mind?

Shining Arcanine said:

Do you see no ethical issue involved with a company complaining about software piracy while its reap the benefits of having paying customers because of the mindshare that the piracy created in the first place?

Er ... no, not in the slightest.

Don't think I've ever seen a car commercial that says, 'If you don't want to pay for our car, then please steal one.'

PaoloM said:

JoshRoss said:

*snip*

While disturbingly amusing your reason is , the answer is a bit simpler: people pirate things that people want. And they go to great lengths to pirate things they want, and they just don't want to get things they don't want, even if they're free.

 

I have to admit, it surprises me every time I read about piracy rates for Windows. I mean, there's a reasonable alternative completely free and still... people just don't want it.

Perhaps it also comes down to economics. The perceived reward for pirating the software is greater than the perceived risk. There was an interview here with Cormac Herley, that covered idea that people choose weak passwords because the perceived cost of the alternative was too high. I would argue the same principle applies here. As I see it, there are four options: make Windows less attractive, increase the actual risk of pirating Windows, increasing the perceived risk of pirating Windows, or do nothing.

-Josh

JoshRoss said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

Perhaps it also comes down to economics. The perceived reward for pirating the software is greater than the perceived risk. There was an interview here with Cormac Herley, that covered idea that people choose weak passwords because the perceived cost of the alternative was too high. I would argue the same principle applies here. As I see it, there are four options: make Windows less attractive, increase the actual risk of pirating Windows, increasing the perceived risk of pirating Windows, or do nothing.

 

-Josh

Perceived risk may explain why some people pirate Windows as opposed to buying it, but it doesn't really explain why people pirate Windows instead of using a free alternative. The only real explanation for that is that people want Windows more.

JoshRoss said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

Probably the same reason they watch amputee midget porn; there is something innately screwy with their internal wiring. 

 

EDIT: I was expecting midget to be on the channel9 naughty words list. Hey Charles, do you want to add that one?

What's wrong with midget?

ZippyV said:

JoshRoss said:

*snip*

What's wrong with midget?

You sound very defensive ZippyV -- how tall are you exactly?  

Herbie

Dr Herbie said:

ZippyV said:

*snip*

You sound very defensive ZippyV -- how tall are you exactly?  

 

Herbie

 

You sound kind of scared Dr Herbie -- suffering from achondroplasiaphobia? 

TommyCarlier said:

Dr Herbie said:

*snip*

You sound kind of scared Dr Herbie -- suffering from achondroplasiaphobia? 

Coulrophobia yes (obviously), not not achondroplasiaphobia

Herbie