The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5) - MS helps you throw your ex-boss into trouble

MS helps you throw your ex-boss into trouble

"Who do I call to report that a company is sharing MSDN software? I just left a company and want to report this to someone within Microsoft."

This quoted sentence is one of the FAQ in the MSDN subscribers section (msdn.microsoft.com).

I especially like the second part:
You got laid off by that moron ? Get your revenge now : Call us !

Serge Wautier
Tuesday, February 17, 2004

http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/

Elephant
Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Sharing can be ok, depending upon the licence. All of the library can be shared, for instance.

Simon Lucy
Tuesday, February 17, 2004

they (well, the Business Software Association) ran scary ads on the radio in many cities in 2001. saying "buy a license now during our truce period before a disgruntled employee turns you in". oh yeah, that really makes me want to buy commercial software.

mb
Tuesday, February 17, 2004

" especially like the second part:
You got laid off by that moron ? Get your revenge now : Call us !"

Why do you think so many compnaies are switching to, or at least investigating, Linux? It's not becasue Linux is better (it's not) - it's because of crap like this.

At least with Linux you don't have to worry about a visit form the BSA Gestapo.

Joe on Software
Wednesday, February 18, 2004

"At least with Linux you don't have to worry about a visit form the BSA Gestapo. "

Think again. The RedHat Enterprise Linux licence includes the right to audit also, and they give you even less notice time.

Just me (Sir to you)
Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Interesting psychology displayed here.

You guys realize that if you actually *pay* for the software you have nothing to worry about, right? This is all about businesses that run fifty desktops on one MSDN copy of Windows, or their backend database is a $40 trial version of Oracle...

Philo

Philo
Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Actually, even if you pay for your software you have a lot to worry about.

Since licenses are non-transferrable, M$ requires both the license certificates and the original purchase receipt. Never mind that receipts are required for the taxman...

If I have 100 machines, but can produce licenses and documentation for only 98 of them, then I am liable for thousands of dollars in fines. Am I a criminal, or did I just misplace a couple of licenses or receipts? To the BSA it makes no difference.

David Jones
Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Philo,

I'm not defending piracy. I'm against piracy. Making unauthorized copy of software == steal software. Fighting piracy is normal.

Now, I'm not sure that sentences as the one I quoted do honor companies that write them: The goal (fighting piracy) is respectable. I'm not sure the method at hand to reach that goal is as respectable.

Serge Wautier
Wednesday, February 18, 2004

even if you find all 100 licenses for the 100 machines, how much time have you wasted fighting off the BSA?

note that microsoft has made some software decisions which make it hard to manage licenses--you can't get the product key from the software any more, so if you have 3 computers & 3 boxes of software, you can't match them up. (note that they could give you juse enough to match, but not enough to register again. still a pain, cf http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/08/04/xp )

mb
Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Serge "I wanna get revenge since they fired my ass" wrote:

>Who do I call to report that a company is sharing MSDN software?
>I just left a company and want to report this to someone within Microsoft."

First make sure that what is being shared is not just the library...because according to the FAQ @ http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/faq/default.asp you can do that legally....snippet

"Note: The MSDN Library is an exception; it is not a single-user license and can be freely shared within an organization. You need to purchase the MSDN Library, but the information on the Library is available for use by anyone in your organization."

And frankly that fact that you did not report this while you were there calls your ethics and motives in question

Code Monkey
Wednesday, February 18, 2004