Microsoft takes aim at pirates

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06 Dec 08 02:02 by Randomus in category Uncategorized To news archive

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Software giant Microsoft is fighting back against piracy by filing lawsuits, launching new informational campaigns, and banning users from Xbox Live.

Companies attempting to fight against piracy often times face an uphill battle, as organized piracy rings manage to stay one step ahead of Microsoft and other software companies.

Microsoft launched 63 lawsuits against people accused of selling pirated Microsoft products through eBay and other popular online auction web sites. The 63 users are from 12 nations including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Belgium.

It seems Microsoft is targeting users accused of selling pirated copies of Windows XP "Blue Edition," which is becoming increasingly popular on eBay because it’s about to be phased out.

Around 34 percent of the pirated software didn’t install properly, and 43 percent had tampered code that could create a backdoor into the person’s computer.

The Redmond-based company has taken the anti-piracy battle away from software on the PC and towards the console side. Company officials confirmed people using modded Xbox 360 game consoles have been getting banned from Xbox Live.

"In our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million members, Microsoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games," Microsoft said on its Major Nelson forum.

Microsoft wants all users who mod their consoles to know they are voiding the factory warranty, and Microsoft will not repair or send you a replacement console.

"You should know that modifying your Xbox 360 console is also a violation of the Xbox Live terms of use, will void your warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live."

Microsoft will move forward with its anti-piracy efforts to help stifle Xbox Live users who have modded their consoles.

"We will continue to employ and bolster anti-piracy security measures to counter piracy in the gaming industry and improve security in the Xbox Live community."

14 Comments

RTV71: Posts: 122; Posted on: 06 Dec 08 02:55

What ever happened to Black Edition?

Crabbyappleton: Posts: 5756; Posted on: 06 Dec 08 03:23

Who do pirates hate the most at Microsoft?
Steve Ballmaaahhrrrrrr! http://www.cdfreaks.com/jochem/../im...ies/2/puh2.gif

guest: Posts: 15288; Posted on: 06 Dec 08 06:53

M$ must be short of money by not selling enough Vista so it's starting another anti piracy campaign again. Guess the MPAA and RIAA will follow sit soon as their money stream slows as the economy drops..

Anthony1uk: Posts: 327; Posted on: 06 Dec 08 13:03

They make duff consoles, that they knew were faulty before they sold them that cheated millions out of their hard earned money.

And then they get all arsey about people trying to cheat them.

Go figure!

guest: Posts: 15288; Posted on: 06 Dec 08 15:09

It's known that modding your console will void the warranty. I think most people can live with that.

To say "illegally modified in order to play pirated games" is pure BS. Not everyone mods to play pirated games. Many mod to make backups of fragile discs, the medium they bought the game on. Modding can be done for many reasons besides 'piracy' (actually just copyright infringement).

MS is lying throught their teeth, as usual.

DeadMan: Posts: 1560; Posted on: 06 Dec 08 19:39

The thing is pirates are probably their biggest customers.

shaolin007: Posts: 883; Posted on: 07 Dec 08 17:43

"
"In our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million members, Microsoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games," Microsoft said on its Major Nelson forum.
Microsoft wants all users who mod their consoles to know they are voiding the factory warranty, and Microsoft will not repair or send you a replacement console."

Ok this is just BS. If I decide to turn my XBOX into a toaster than that is my right to do so because I paid for that console. I own that console. It is my property. However, MS can say well, "You void the warranty if you do!', but saying it is illegal is just stupid.

steveo119: Posts: 291; Posted on: 07 Dec 08 20:30

you'll be able to turn it into a door stop soon enough when it suffers from the RRoD!!

but then if you void your warranty, and you get the RRoD, then thats all it will be useful for! so you're damned either way really!

BitRate: Posts: 410; Posted on: 08 Dec 08 04:31

If it wasn't for piracy Microsoft wouldn't be as big as they are. It's worked as a viral type of marketing for them and they know it. All their attempts at tackling piracy to date have been weak and ineffective because they need at piracy at some level.

DukeNukem: Posts: 998; Posted on: 08 Dec 08 05:29

@ old3eyes
"M$ must be short of money by not selling enough Vista"

If Microsoft gave me a free copy of Vista Ultimate I *still* wouldn't take it.

Crabbyappleton: Posts: 5756; Posted on: 08 Dec 08 05:33

They did give me a free copy of Vista business...I never installed it. I just dropped it in my file drawer and it is in there to this day.

shaolin007: Posts: 883; Posted on: 08 Dec 08 17:09

Unfortunately, I had to get Vista with my laptop. :-( All it is is a glorified looking XP with some patches and workouts. I laugh at those "Windows Mojave" commercials where people are like, "Wow, this is Windows Mojave? Man I got to get this!" Then they find out it is Vista. I hate to tell them but snazzy graphics doesn't make a good OS. I would rather have a rock solid stable OS that had mucho security features instead of a awesome looking GUI and weak stability and security options. If anyone will remember, when Vista first arrived, it was a freaking nightmare. Just here recently MS have made it stable enough to use, sort of.

guest: Posts: 15288; Posted on: 11 Dec 08 18:13

I do think that companies trying to protect their products and their right to be the only ones to sell it but all of the aforementioned illegal bullcrap is unnessacary. Shaolin is correct on how vista is just glorified xp. I just wish microsoft would figure out that cool looking doesn't do anything for the computer, so then they could concentrate on bugs and security.

Circlestrafe: Posts: 57; Posted on: 11 Dec 08 19:53

Another example of the pot calling the kettle black. Great job Microslop! Why not invest the time and money into creating products that actually work the way you advertise? Going after these so-called pirates is like shooing away flies in a barnyard; yeah they're annoying as hell, but can they really do any serious damage? Of course not.

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