OK i never said, EVER that piracy was good nor was it honorable (other than kids learning where they could never purchase the product to learn it, in an isolated environment) that is a given, most software companies diregard them as they were not in the (sales portfolio), speaking from experience here..
MS has put about .06% ((or possibly .6%)) of total project funding for Vista to prevent piracy (cant remember where that figure came from.. pulled from some trivial data department in the receses of my mind.. probably somthing someone said or i read in a meeting while i was grubbing a Quiznos ham and cheese)
Regarding your moral implication:
My statements were directed to the fact of field engineers, and kids, one is evalutaing prior to putting thier neck on the line at work the other is kids learning the product. i think we are talking apples and oranges here, i am NOT talking about the newgroup floggers, Torrent loaders and such that do this for a living (and we all know them).. but they even state in thier apps, if you use it, BUY it.. but thats another topic.. (moral issue loading a pirate app to test vs to use)
MS DOES care about mass reproducing and releasing of thier software (as i stated in my last post, but then said they dont which i meant in the terms of fiscal actions to track and prosecute), any software, they own the IP.. this guy disro the Vista Eternity is in direct violation of IP (intellectual property).. thus Pirate.. however what they dont focus on is the DIY, fly by night, one offs that place that OS on thier systems.. Unless.. that distro is being sold on systems or by "newspaper add, flea market system builders and/or resellers".. they can and will focus on them because that has substantual recourse options.
However, and moreover, my point was and is, MS has full capability to track and even disable an OS that is does not have a valid LIC, they dont, (for many reasons that i will not go into here) they dont track other than system info and the hack version, no personal data.. your also talking moral issues and mixing them in with this, i was/am talking logical and fiscal issues.
Logical and fiscal issues:
SO whats this all mean, do they care or dont they, of course they care to a point, it can make a minor impact on the projected profit (however they already figure a number in for piracy and i dont know that number, i dont think anyone does, well maybe Bill but they cant factor in piracy for that loss revenue so they jack up the price, it dont work that way, its what the market will bare plus what i already stated in my previous thread), but that does not increase the price of the OS was my point and was yours as well, its simply not fiscally worth tracking down and getting a warrant (witch they are unlinky to get for an individual without evidence and if they DID have evidence with the way thier ELUA is written now that would violate the privacy act by gathering personal data without prior approval).. so, it makes less fiscal cost to ignore the DIY and go after the distos not the end users..
On a personal note, i agree with you, i detest the non honorable person that feels its cool because they got it without paying for it, but i have several times evaled a product by creative means because the company would not ship me a full operational demo.. most dont even expect my call.. one told me once to look in the newsgroups! it ended up that product had so many flaws i undrestood why they didnt have a full working demo program.. nevertheless.. try before you buy.. i support that fully and i also support law when piracy is defined as (unauthorized use of software: the illegal duplication of copyrighted software or the installation of copyrighted software on more computers than authorized under terms of the software license agreement). in the end USE is a wobbler, if your evaling it for a project or need.. i dont feel (as many others in the field) that EVAL is not USE they way they have defined it (as production), and i have many friends in the software and hardware engineering fields (inluding me), this is not a topic that is just debated here.
If you use it, buy it.. if you cant get a full working demo with timeout, then definitly use creative methods to test and eval, there is usually a reason a company will not release a full version demo with timeout.. be very cautious there. MS, of course does, note that whole 30 day timer prior to activation.... there is no reason to pirate MS OS.. none
Inetersting fact, when i got my MCSE for the first time in 1997 it was one of my duties to report (directly to MS) any pirated OS that i came across.. i am under contract to do so still while i hold my MCSE title, it was also in the 2000, 2003, however when i was testing for the 2008 upgrade, there was no such provision (i seen yet).. leads me to think that they are working on somthing..
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