There is a very, very simple way to make absolutely certain you aren't using pirated software ..... unfortunately, it isn't going to help Microsoft much.

If you make it difficult for kids to find pirated copies of M$ products, then the kids are just going to move over to free open source software. When they enter the workforce, they will continue to push to use what they know. Young M$ pirates are good for M$.

I just visited the site. And boy does it suck. The "random" interviews and stories are such cheap fake crap that any kid will see right thru them. LOL

Microsoft is so 1980 that it is funny. And they are even wrong about a bunch of stuff. If I video tape an open public event, that tape is mine. Only if the event has noted that "NO videotaping is allow" does the material become controlled.

Just goes to show you that Microsoft wants to rule the world and everyone should do things its way. CAUSE. :-) PS Microsoft is currently talking to the Senate to try and convince them that the Yahoo and Google deals are bad cause they will stifle competition. You know, like Microsoft tries to do every day. LOL

Just a thought. :-)

In an age when people are being blown apart on a regular basis, such-and-such country is invaliding its neighbour, and people are just being generally pretty nasty to each other, coupled with looming ecological disaster, the rise of diseases like TB and malaria, people loosing the houses that they can no longer afford, grannies dying from lack of money to heat their little flats and a million and one other issues, why should anyone give a flying f*** about someone copying some software or an MP3 file or a video of Lost or whatever over the internet? It doesn't actually matter. This stuff is not "real". It's just a bunch of bits on a wire. This issue is only important to the greedy money-soaked people who run record companies or trillion dollar film studios or even bigger software companies (most of which produce crap software anyway). It's not actually important!!

Hey kids, instead of going to that website that has a cool name, easy search functions and access to tens of thousands of tunes/videos for free, why not come to our patronising and insulting attempt to be "down wiv da kidz".

Normally, you'd have to decide what you want and then type it into the search box - not any more you don't. We've taken all of the hassle out of the process because WE tell you what you want and then we sell it to you. Not only do you avoid all that seriously uncool "thinking" but you also get to be shafted by a faceless multi-national corporation - just like grown-ups do every day!

@elder norm - I visited that as well.

The street interviews made me lol, in the background of some of the interviews they have the other kids sitting around them (They have better acting in some certain porn franchises!).

You'd think that a company would like M$ would have the money to make a half decent site (even with no real content to include in it!).

... between iTunes, Limewire, the BBC website and the control panel for JCB's latest cement mixer (with optional iPod connector and BlueTooth voice control). How do we expect them to police what the kids are doing online? I've seen adults that are constantly amazed that when they move the 'mouse thingy', the 'pointy thing' on the screen moves at the same time! They're not likely to turn round and chastise the kids for using P2P file-sharing.

It certainly does.

I used to hang out on rec.music.classical.recordings, a newsgroup adorned by a gentleman resident in LA. He endlessly chanted the mantra that the primary cause of the entertainment industry's death wish toward piracy was very simple: piracy deprived them of the money to pay for their cocaine habit.

The endless chanting was (ahem!) disenchanting and tiresome, but you know what? I think he was hitting the nail on the head. His thesis leads us to understand why the media mafiosi continue to claim ludicrous of lost revenue: an addict in withdrawal doesn't think straight.

Meanwhile, the FBI has a section set up specifically to help these very addicts retain their source of cash: a good example of misplaced priorities.

Also, perhaps, a sign of how cheap it is to buy politicians.

What would be of Redmond if cheap twain clones couldn't run pirate copies of MS/DOS?

I have checked to news, and I still cannot find any reports of Vista downgrade disks being stolen off ships. Clearly MS are massively exaggerating theft of their software taking place at sea.

By the way, I whole heartedly support Bill's right to rent out third rate software at exorbitant prices. I just do not want to be required to pay for software I will not use.

I finally cured my nephew of surfing dodgy sites when it screwed up his computer to the point where some bit of malware blocked Firefox (but would allow IE, except I'd hidden it), presumably because it couldn't do its dirty tricks with FF. In fixing it, I 'broke' his P2P software by taking out the nasty bits, then gave him the option of putting it back so he could share dodgy music files or leaving it cleaned up so he could do his school coursework (letting him know where I'd hidden IE wasn't an option). As he was in his GCSE year he chose the latter.

First good use I've found for coursework...

A study was conducted to determine the gum stealing habits of 11-16 year olds, as compared to those persons over 16. It was shown that 61% of those under 16 regularly steals gum, while only 15% of those over 16 so do. When the under 16 year old kids were asked why they resort to such heinous criminal activity, which will likely lead to the store going out of business , these young felons invariably replied "my mom won't give me money for gum".

Reminded me of a tale of where numbers mean many things to many people for a very few accuracy is paramount or oops the Space Shuttle just destroyed the ISS space station but for corporations and politicians they prefer to feed them up a rat's A@*#!& and then bend the results to meet their corrupted view on the entire scene so as to suit their team of bean counters or fill the wallet of many luxury goodies and many promises of plum no work needed consultancy jobs in these stagflation times in the case of the latter!

But alas , like all bent figures they still won't put the pussy out at night to terrorize the wildlife or walk your dog on any day of the year summer or winter , now where did I put that phone number for the professional dog walker again ?

Don't copy that floppy.

Once more on the merry-go-round: please repeat after me 50 times:

"Copyright infringement is NOT theft, because the owner still has their original."

Idiot.

Don't diss it, MyBytes is a great site!

Best part of it is, when you pay to subscribe, you get exclusive access to "uncensored" clips of the interviewee's done by the godfather of street journalism, Ugly George.

There reason is clear: 60% does it because originals are too pricey. Lower the price to something reasonable. I ain't paying my entire months' salary just for a copy of Vi$ta...

I remember a report from over 20 years ago stating that computer game piracy at the time may have hurt the industry in the short term but was a great boon in the long term because it argued that most of the piracy was being done by kids but once the kids grew up and started earning money they started buying legitimate copies of software (the same went for home taping instead of buying LPs/cassettes).

Seems to me, when US copyright groups start blaming a particular country, it's a prelude to seeking a new law targeting that country.

e.g. here they did it as they were lobbying for that horrendous Canadian copyright law, when Canada was blamed as the worst:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070214.wblacklist14/BNStory/National/home

Now we're onto the UK, gee I wonder what's coming.... maybe some ACTA lobbying? Some crappy POS change to copyright law? BSA planning something?

Was he dropped by his record companies? Off a bridge, with concrete overshoes?

Was he knifed by chavs wearing hoodies and then sold to transplant organ traffickers who were investing their profits in drug dealing, and investing the profits from that in prostitution, and investing the profits from that in terrorism, and investing the profits from that in (gasp!) bootleg mp3 and warez sites, providing an illegal source of gangsta rap tracks to inspire more hoodie chavs to inflict more carnage on anthropomorphic symbols of copyright enforcement?!

Did he even get all of his fifteen minutes of fame?

I think we should be told.

Well, Canda has already shown a study that shows there's a link between revenue and piracy: piracy increases revenues.

We already had an example of that with the Original Napster (rather than New Napster): sales were going strong and getting stronger while Napster was running. As Napster was neutered and then finally closed down, sales dropped sharply.

With a monopoly product, only piracy is the option left for a free market competition to arise.

...companies such as MS got off its big fat ass and gave software away to non profit organisations (eg: home suers, charities etc), charge corporates that's only fair.

Due to the price of MS software I have been removing licensed copies of Office 2k from my home machines (Yes I have a few) and putting open office on them. Its does the job just as well as MS products.

When I say to myself "I'm only using 10% of this app" at least I know I didn't get shafted buying it.