Sun, 30 Jul 2006

Paul Thurrott's WGA Woes Solved

Well, it seems the giggles may have been premature! But it led me to an interesting thought...

How does a software company know you're running a pirated copy?

Well, they compare the keys that you enter during setup/installation to a set of master keys in a database, right? And presumably the first registration with a particular key "wins", and is considered legitimate.

My question is what prevents this process from becoming "he said, she said"? When taking a single copy pirate to court, how do software companies prove, legally, that the registration of a particular key has happened before without compromising the original keyholder's identity?

In Microsoft's case they could demand presentation of physical credentials - the packaging with the key and holographic seal, for example. But what about downloaded software, with no physical credentials? How could that be proven?

I suppose they could demand a receipt, but, well, could someone randomly drive by my house, claim ownership of the canoe I have in my back yard (purchased 10 years ago in a different state) and have a court enforce a demand to see a receipt? That seems a bit extreme, but maybe that really is how it works...

If there are any techies or legal eagles out there who know, by all means enlighten me!

Last week Slashdot ran an article regarding the trouble Paul Thurrott had with WGA. It turns out that after talking to Microsoft, he was actually running a pirated version of Windows, legitimately purchased from an online vendor. Paul admits that 'the truth is, I just made a mistake. If we learn something from that mistake, fantastic, but I wasn't trying to set up a life lesson for anyone, let alone myself.'

(link) [Slashdot]

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