Black Screen of Darkness to Haunt Vista Pirates

http://www.computerworld.com/action...leBasic&articleId=9035478&intsrc=news_ts_head

I found this article to be pretty interesting, but I have some questions. If the black screen comes after one hour of browsing, does that mean that once you get the black screen, you can reboot and then have another one hour of browsing? It is tedious but many probably ponder if say another WGA related server error occurs, genuine users will be targeted as using pirated copies.

Also, does this apply to Microsoft Office 2007, or just Vista? I tried downloading the pdf converter plug-in for Microsoft Word 2007 and in trying to download it I got an error message that my copy of Office is not valid or something.

 

Another failed attempt in the making which will probably only screw up on people who have legit versions. LOL

 

If you have a legit version then you should have nothing to fear. If any problem occurs call MS right then and there. You paid good money for your legal software and you should expect support. Now... if your a pirate and you didnt pay for Vista, your getting off easy. In my opinion the owner of intellectual propery can do as it pleases with its software. If it were my property I would place a killswitch to wreck havok not only on your data but your hardware as well.

 

What I don't understand is how does this apply to non-activated preinstalled OEM copies? Their are plenty of cracked no-activate OEM copies floating around, and I doubt this new tactic would effect them.

 

Then you would get sued like crazy. Software companies can only disable any software the pirate uses. Otherwise that's like burning a man's house down because he stole your new jacket.

 

Agreed. Direct from the article "...If Windows Vista is not activated with a genuine product key..." These Pre-activated OEMs floating around the torrent sites are already activated. Even passes WGA validations. So I would say 50/50 chance this is a success.

 

I think the odds are in my favor, he wouldnt steal my jacket again. But I would never do such a thing for the fear of it affecting an innocent party. But if someone leaves a window open and a thief climbs through and falls and gets hurt, is it the homeowners fault? Yes, the thief will try to sue but I hope that justice is not that blind. He should be paraded around the local township as a deterant for future crime.
Most of Windows pirated software is from the OEM or VLK. So I dont think this will have a profound effect. A recent purchase of Vista Home Basic (Dell OEM) from Ebay required activation and a product key which I had also. I called MS and in less than 10 minutes was talking to a live person and after explaining how I obtained the software was activated for me.

 

But if it was an intentional trap (like putting grease on the window sill) then he will sue and be parading around with your money.

So MS or any other can't damage your hardware purposely.

 

Well have you had to call MS yet? I did. It was because I changed my machine from AHCI to compatibility mode to solve a problem. That required reactivation.

By the way if you flash your BIOS, Vista will require reactivation, at least that is what the MS support guy told me.

And it took an hour of my time on top of the other hassles at that point.

 

Yes...any hardware change whatsoever requires a reactivation.

 

Speaking of which - If I install a secondary hard drive in my Ultrabay is that going to trigger reactivation? The Microsoft guy said it was like a points system - lots of things were "2 points" and when you get to 12 then you have to reactivate.

 

Will adding & replacing Ram sticks require reactivation too?

 

This is NOT true. There may be rare instances where this has occurred, but this is an extreme exaggeration as a blanket statement.

 

What should have been said was that any hardware change whatsoever is taken into consideration for reactivation. After enough minor changes or just a few big ones, a reactivation will be necessary.

 

If you have nothing to worry call MS. The pirates I doubt will be calling them.

 

They Microsoft support guy I spoke to essentially said that any hardware change can be charged "points" and when you get to 12, you need to reactivate. He didn't say how many points were charged for any specific changes but they must have a points table (is it public?). Some things, he pointed out, like BIOS flash, or in my case, just changing the AHCI mode, require reactivation (so I guess those are charged 12 points).

Now I had that experience, and personally got that word from Microsoft. It is what it is.

 

The thing to worry about is how often will I be on the phone to them? It took an hour last time. If it is only a few more times it will cost me more in time just activating the thing than the purchase price (retail Ultimate). The BSOD and other teething pain hassles have already more than cost me that, but at least I only have to pay that cost for one machine. The activation issue will apply to every machine I use.

So no, I have very little to worry about from a piracy point of view.

It's the hassle point of view.

 

I feel ya. Each time I have called I have gotten straight thru, within 10 minutes. Again, thats 10 minutes of my precious life, I have better things to do. Like be here? But I also view it as such. You have to activate each time your make a "critical" hardware change? How often do you change hardware? If you do this for a living, it must be grand. If on the other hand you are plagued by bad hardware and forced to change often, we shouldnt blame MS for this, instead place some of the blame on the manufacter of the hardware.
2¢

 

Well it turns out that microsoft hasn't rolled out any new updates to Windows Vista's anti-piracy platform, and this black screen of death story was just a hoax. We all know about vista's reduced functionality mode to prevent piracy (it has been there since the OS was launched) but this new story is a hoax...

See here

 

1. MS puts in these nice attempts to thwart piracy but in all seriousness they need a certain level to maintain the popularity of the OS. If Vista was unable to be pirated, the Windows platform would lose a huge share of users.

2. The system they have in place right now sucks. All these errors, problems with people who legitimate copies, this can't happen.

There needs to be a greater benefit to the end user who paid for the OS. I personally think they should go the way of making an incentive that makes people think "Hmm I really should buy this" like they very poorly attempted with the ultimate add-ons.