back to article Microsoft names and shames pirate software traders

Microsoft has reached out-of-court settlements with five computer resellers that 'fessed up to illegally loading hard disks with pirated software and flogging bootleg programs. The firms were conveniently named and shamed on Thursday for Play Fair Day – previously dubbed Consumer Action Day – which the industry is using to …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shamed?

    I can see the named part but I think companies like that are way beyond shame. Unless they need to pay some kind of fine or compensation I can imagine them easily picking up where they left.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      re: way beyond shame

      So you have the details of these alleged license infringements? If they're PC dealers it's more likely that someone accidentally used the wrong CD or license key to reinstall a machine, than any deliberate act of piracy for financial gain. The BSA then starts its campaign of lawyer letters and the victim eventually settles to avoid the hassle and expense of a court case. Does anyone know of a case that the BSA has successfully prosecuted in this sort of situation?

  2. Tomato42
    FAIL

    Software industry

    >10 per cent by 2013 would create 13,000 high-tech jobs and add £1.5bn in taxes

    Yeah, just like downloading child porn destroys CP industry. Quoting bigger numbers doesn't make them less imaginary.

    You can build a PC for the cost of Windows 7 Pro BOX licence!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    BSA == Bl**dy Sore Arse in my view

    from the kicking they should be getting.

    If you want a classic example of 'we must speard some FUD to keep our jobs' then look no further than this this

    Research by that venerable institution the BSA shows UK software piracy levels plateaued at 27 per cent of total sales in recent years, but a reduction of 10 per cent by 2013 would create 13,000 high-tech jobs and add £1.5bn in taxes, it claims.

    What a load of bulls droppings. Whare are these 13K jobs going to come from? Offshore call centres & sweatshops maybe.

    I'd really like to know how stopping the piracy of a copy of MS Office(why anyone would want to rip POS off is beyond me) is going to create Jobs in the UK. It isn't .

    Pah.

  4. Paul Crawford Silver badge

    How do they get this?

    "a reduction of 10 per cent by 2013 would create 13,000 high-tech jobs"

    I can see the argument about the UK gov getting more tax, it may not be that helpful to the UK balance of trade if most of the money goes overseas to MS & Adobe (who are probably the majority case for software piracy by total value).

    But where do these high-tech jobs come from? Maybe a few sales drones in PC World, etc, but just how does paying for MS software generate a UK high-tech job?

    Perhaps using Linux and paying someone in the UK to integrate and develop thing would be a better route altogether.

  5. Joe Montana
    WTF?

    WTF?

    How would a reduction in piracy "create jobs"?

    All it would do is increase profits for the software sellers, writing software is an up front cost that has already been accounted for... Additional sales would require virtually no additional resources on the part of the software companies and they certainly wouldn't go about hiring more staff.

    On the other hand that extra profit has to come from somewhere, which will mean individuals and other companies having to spend more on software, leaving them less money to spend on other things such as staff.

    If anything it would reduce jobs, and the impact on tax revenue is highly questionable too.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's MS Windows

      Of course less piracy would create jobs - in their support departments. More legit customers = more people complaining that their expensive software is a piece of shite!

  6. James Gosling

    Pot, Kettle.... Black

    Of course Microsoft never stole anything....

  7. Tim Bates
    WTF?

    For once I'm with MS

    I happily pirate some software at home, for my own use. But you'd have to be bonkers to do it at work - especially if your workplace is a freaking computer shop!

    Do these clowns actually think 100% of their customers are so stupid that they won't notice pirated software? Or are the staff so clueless that they don't actually understand the whole of the word "piracy"?

  8. Fair Play
    FAIL

    Strange...???

    If Microsoft are so against software piracy, why did they rip off 39 separate patented proprietary technologies and incorporate them illegally into Windows Media Player 9 after walking away from the table after six months of negotiations with Burst.com?

    Any connection with the fact that they just laughed when Burst.com threatened to sue them because most senior executives at Microsoft (including, by his own testimony to the European Court of First Instance, ex-CEO Billy Gates)?

    They lost that case as well... google "burst.com" for the story... and does anyone know if Microsoft has paid the fines totalling over 1 billion Euros imposed on them bt the EC for monopoly abuse yet? Yes, that's a total of over one thousand million Euros for a number of cases of criminal monopoly abuse... makes you wonder how those fine folks at Redmond can make their claims without blushing, doesn't it?

    Ding, dong! "Paging kettle, paging kettle, pot on line one..." :)

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