Ce-Oh no he didnt! Part XXX - Who wants to get robbed? Microsoft sez, "We want it to be us."
By Jeannie Choe 
posted March 13th 2007 8:05PM
posted March 13th 2007 8:05PM
Does our collective ear deceive us? If pirates are to plunder, Microsoft now wants them to board the Windows ship first. The news came about at last week's Morgan Stanley Technology conference where MS business group prez Jeff Raikes stated, "If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else. We understand that in the long run the fundamental asset is the installed base of people who are using our products." Okay Jeff, you have a point there. A sure indicator of building loyalty from piracy is getting an entire nation to attribute their booming IT industry to burgled MS software -- and let's not forget how the whole Viodentia fiasco blew up in ya face. Raikes now trumpets MS' next steps, backed by its already-in-effect anti-piracy campaign, complete with imagery, clever one-liners, and scare tactics / empty-ish threats. So what's the end goal here? According to Raikes, MS is the new software missionary, attempting to educate pirates and "convert them to licensing the software." We've got no idea when they expect this to actually happen -- maybe when Satan phones Gates regarding DRM.[Thanks, Bernard]
The title to this article should be "Engadget calling out Microsoft because they're all Apple fanboys Part XXXXXXX"
It's getting old, Engadget.
moron, they're bringing it upon themselves. what ceo would say something like that and not get shredded up on a website like this?
Steve Jobs. He already said the exact same thing years ago.
I'm far from a "fanboy" of any camp and usually attempt to stay as neutral as possible, but this statement is an old hat over in Cupertino. It is kind of difficult to ignore the similarities here.
Am I the only one who doesn't quite follow this man's logic? Because this is the real world, not some fantasy nirvana or anything... pirates aren't (usually) that honest or noble...
Is he giving us the go-ahead to pirate software. Am i dreaming or something?
Quote from article "maybe when Satan phones Gates regarding DRM."
And Satan will be using an iPhone!
This is news to anyone? Windows 3.1 is the most pirated piece of software of all time. Its credited with making Microsoft the industry standard in the first place. Did it even need a serial number?
It wasn't even just steve jobs. Bill Gates has been making the same comment about software piracy in asia for years.
who wants to steal their crap anyway...
This actually makes a bit of sense, if more people pirate Microsoft software, they'll be able to see how those people are pirating their software, and then create better anti-piracy programs for future products based on that.
or enjoy their inflated market share...
Just to piss you off i'm goting to pirate Mac OSX x86.
What Gates is saying makes sense, its better to have people using your software, even if its pitated.
Thatsa a bad photoshop, thjere is red eye, and the string on the eye path is too vivid.
Atleast Microsoft execs have the balls to say what they really think. No matter how crazy. As opposed to the Jobs convent that can only spew brain washing slogans to their followers and kiss SJ's a$$.
Does this mean if Microsoft takes a pirate to court for pirating Windows, that the pirate in question can just say the CEO gave him the go ahead? That would be the best court case in awhile... (Especially when you can see a company because you spilled your own coffee on your lap after you bought it from them.)
The fact is that piracy helps distribute software. This has been Microsoft's policy for decades, and they haven't made a point of hiding it.
First, you get them pirating the software and using it for free. You let them pirate the upgrade to the next version, and so on until they become familiar with the software. Once the software has a large enough install base, and people are using it frequently, you hit them with serial numbers and activation and things like that. That's what Microsoft did to become market leader.
That's why Apple doesn't have a serial number or activation for OSX. Aside from the fact that it only runs on their hardware. Apple are a bit too arrogant to support piracy, but are smart enough not to go too hard on it. At least until they enjoy the sort of market share Microsoft do.
Piracy is why photoshop is a house hold name. In fact word around the camp fire is allot of companies let cracks out them selves to promote the software.
So when I go and learn photoshop on a crack at home then get a job the employer says what software do you know? photo shop then they go buy it.
It makes business sense to leak your own crack.
Chill out Engadget. If you didn't notice, this is just something that Jeff said. It's not exactly the whole thoughts of Microsoft. It's just one person saying this stuff, not the whole company. Come on Engadget, I know you can do better than that. Instead of being such fanboys, why don't you just stick to your job, and just make some nice tech articles? Not "I-like-to-make-fun-of-a-company" articles. Please stop this nonsense.
He does have a point. There's going to be people who will buy the product no matter what,people who will pirate it or do without, and small number of people who will buy it if they can't pirate it. It's only the last group of people that affects a company's bottom line.
Suppose Word was made unpiratable for example. Some people will still faithfully buy it from the store or with their system. Other people who couldn't pirate it would just use Open Office instead. And a group who would have pirated it will go out and buy it. Now that's great for Microsoft short term. But suppose Open Office takes off as a result. Word is less of the industry standard, it's not as recommended, manufacturer's reduce their offerings, and sales suffer accordingly. The people who never pirate aren't buying Word, they're using OpenOffice or whatever the new standard is.
As long as Microsoft does it's best to scare the people who might buy/might pirate into thinking that pirating software will destroy their PC, send them to prison, and mutilate their loved ones, everything will work out optimally for them.
The math is simple, and hardly any of you seem to get it. The "shock and awe" spin Engaget tries to put on it doesn't help either.
Pirate Joe is never going to pay for any software. He can pirate Microsoft Office or he can pirate Corel's office suite, or he can go get open office. Microsoft would rather someone pirate Microsoft Office than use Open Office. Microsoft is already not getting any money from Pirate Joe so they might as well get some free advertisement from him. On top of that, since Pirate Joe saves his documents in MS Office format, he is helping promote the use of Office by his friends, making it the most popular office suite ever. If MS Office is the most popular then when Consumer Bob goes out to spend money on an office suite then he is going to buy MS Office instead of Corel's offerings.
In short: Microsoft would rather someone pay for their products than steal them, but they would rather people pirate their products than not use them at all because then they still get popularity factor and free word of mouth advertisement.
MS should start calling it "privateering" instead of pirating, if that is the strategy.
Back when the euro-powers were battling in the "new world" they used private individuals and empowered them to attack enemy vessels. This state-sanctioned activity eventually led to "piracy".
So, b/c this is now "sanctioned" I can say that im a privateer of windows, not a pirate!
you people are all freaking crazy....it's a joke..take it as such
its true you engadget geeks are in Man love with Steve B Jobs, and you just keep on after the true pirate of silicon valley and you know it. You just cant handle Microsoft's dominance in the world of computers. Business and everyday user's show that. go to your corner and play with your ipod. Or is it to big to play with??
hey thats kinda funny, last time i checked the zune was about twice as thick and heavy as the ipod
Isn't This a Sign of the Apocalypse?
Did anybody else initially read "already-in-effect anti-piracy campaign" as "already-inefficient anti-piracy campaign"? It would have made more sense, anyway...
This is your classic willingness to pay argument. Say MSFT charges $500 for software. The pirates who are not willing to pay even $20 for a legit copy are a negligible loss.
Now due to a $500 price tag (the stick) licensing (the stick, and real money maker) gets snatched up by corporations. Microsoft knows the costs of doing business, specifically training are extremely high.
So now ask yourself a question is it worth it to make MSFT software secure so a pirate can’t get it? Is it worth while to come up with a price point that will get every hacker to buy the product? The answer to both questions is no.
The money is in not aggressively pursuing them. The money is in corporations and people willing to pay full price. The money is also in going to the DOJ and when they ask why you charge $500, state we lost $15 billion to hackers last year look at how terrible it is. When the actual loss is much lower since the hackers would never buy this software in the first place.