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Thursday, October 30, 2008

"On the screen all softwares are black..."

"In the night all cats are black"
May be taking inspiration from Kant, Microsoft Corp. has adopted a new anti-piracy tactic: when Chinese consumers use illegal software their screen turns black.
"On the screen all software’s are black..."

Useless say that Chinese consumers are very angry.

"The black-screen plan implies that Microsoft can hack all its users, not just the pirates," "That's not fair."
Windows Genuine Advantage is a tool that Microsoft uses to assess, over the Internet, whether a PC has one of the pirated copies of Windows that flourish in developing countries.
As the tool scans for pirated copies of Windows, it logs certain information about computers, notifies users if it detects illegal copies or counterfeits — and urges them to get a legitimate copy.

Users could avoid it by disabling updates, but in this way they miss security.(but they can get illegal updates in the same way...)

On the other hand, it is not sure that people who get illegal software would buy the legal one, just like the ones who buy Gucci's copies.
They would never pay $1000 for a bag or a pair of shoes.
So the estimate of the money loss is, in my opinion, overestimated.
Besides it's possible that the presence of cheap pirated versions benefits Microsoft in some cases, by helping to introduce people to the company's products.

May be the right solution would be having lower prices...

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