Going once, twice, sold! for $52.49!
Submitted by doc on Wed, 08/17/2005 - 18:11.
A friend of mine who watches these things tells me that Microsoft in the past would have shut down sales of pirated Windows copies on eBay — but isn't any more, essentially allowing the eBay marketplace to discover the "true" value of the OS.
I don't know if MS Microsoft Win Windows 2000 Pro New Full Retail Media is pirated or not (I'll assume not); but that's beside the pricing point, which is its buy-it-now price of $52.49.
Here's an OEM Full Version for $108.95.
So, three somewhat overlapping questions...
- (Maybe I should know the answer to this already, but I don't) Are sales of these copies violating Microsoft's rules?
- Is there really a new Microsoft practice involved here? Meaning, are they passively sanctioning a Windows market flourish outside their authorized retail and OEM channels?
- What, if anything, has happened, and why?
One possible answer is that nothing has changed, and the observations here are in error.
Another is that Microsoft has given up an impossible fight, and nothing more.
Another is that Micrsoft wants to compete with Linux (which is free or close) in the open marketplace.
I'm sure there are others. That's why I'm asking.
Speculative answers are fine, but if any of ya'll have good first-hand information here, that would be especially helpful.
Maximo Park
Maximo Park mp3 music download site - Our Velocity, Your Urge, Russian Literature...
Microsoft Not trying to catch pirates?
I was informed by a VP in MS ranks that they are enforcing anti-piracy but only when it comes to large volume pirates.
I assure you that even if they are not prosecuting all pirates, they for sure are documenting all cases and evidence and at some point when they feel that they have stopped 'most' of the big pirates, they will focus on the smaller guys they have been collecting data on for a few years.
My advice to anyone who thinks that MS won't bother them, "Who are you kidding!!! The consequences are always there and if not today, perhaps tomorrow you will find yourself in a very unpleasant situation."
And you can quote me on that one...
I think it would be wiser for a person to switch to linux than to be running an invalid copy of MS software of any kind.
Possibilities
I don't have any specific knowledge of who is behind this, but I have noticed it, too. Two years ago, I rarely saw MS OSes for sale on eBay because Microsoft complained about any that showed up. They even shut down auctions that I am pretty sure were legitimate on the grounds that their trademarks were being used without permission. Now, there are lots of these auctions and the sellers seem to have sold lots of copies without being shut down.
The most interenting possibility that I see are that MS is looking the other way in order to make it tougher for Linux. If so, that is pretty clever on their part, but I wonder if it could backfire. If it came out that these were being sold with MS's tacit approval, would people have a case that these were legit copies?
A cynical possibility is that this is a "sting" of some sort. The sellers could "agree" to cooperate after a while and turn over their list of sellers. Then, the BSA could pounce and bring in treble damages.
And to answer one question in the comments, I would say this is unlikely to be people moving old stock. There seem to be many copies of all versions of Windows, including XP home and Pro.. I don't know why anyone would want XP, but they are there.
Hard to imagine either way
If these are warez copies, I can't imagine why MS would allow someone to sell them for profit. (Why not take that profit for themselves? After all, MS can manufacture them for almost nothing.)
If they are legit copies, it looks like they are being priced under wholesale. Is someone clearing out overstock? Where else would they come from?
I don't have any first-hand information, though.
Wes Felter
Hard to imagine either way
It's not legit. I bought one, examined it and it was definitely not legit. I contacted eBay's SquareTrade, paid an arbitrator and got my money back plus shipping both ways.
Who says MS isn't making them some place like Brazil? They're coming from somewhere. They don't have COAs. Just the CD in a blank sleeve with an orange key code on the back. They aren't even OEM.
Who says MS isn't making them some place like Brazil?
Porquê logo no Brasil?
Isso é preconceito!
Relevant case
Softman v. Adobe is an interesting case relevant to this issue. Basically it confirms the common-sense point of view that if you haven't accepted the EULA, it doesn't bind you.
My speculation
If people are going to use free software a la Linux anyway, then why wouldn't Gates & Co. meet the price? The BSA seems to have backed off some time ago.
BSA muzzled
BSA harassment seems to be just the insult that some businesses need to get over the Linux migration hump. "I didn't care if we used ten thousand abacuses. We were not going to do business with Microsoft." -- Ernie Ball
Quotes on which to dwell
"We are going to cut off [Netscape's] air supply. Everything they're selling, we're going to give away for free." BILL GATES
"... about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but people don't pay for the software. Someday they will, though. As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade." -BILL GATES
Rumor or not.
Call it a hunch, but I wonder if Gates is not the "PR Brains" of Microsoft.
I'm not big on MSFT corporate studies. I've seen Gates pictured with a second fellow -- e.g. glanced, on the cover of some ____ probably from CMP -- not sure of his name. Balmer?
Gates is the figurehead, the token "wiz millionaire".
When the public gets over the celebrity idolization about Gates and the company that he is one figurehead person within, then they might be able to understand some more. Here's hoping.
Yes, and...?
That second item is the kicker, but it helps to have at least a link to the source. Got one?
google, dude
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22about+3+million+computers+get+sold+every+year+in+China%22&btnG=Google+Search
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-212942.html
link to source
Its an old news story, but google finds it.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-212942.html
The quote is about midway through.