Microsoft: More Educated Consumers Pirate Less

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While piracy is one thing that is unlikely to be gone from the software industry any time soon, Microsoft is expressing an attitude that shows the company is more confident against the problem than ever.

Besides its WGA protection schemes, Microsoft says that an educated IT market is what's helping curb piracy. Speaking at a Windows 7 launch in the Philippines, Microsoft Philippines Inc., managing director John Bessey said, "We were surprised by the demand for Windows 7 [in the Philippines] not just in number but also the good feedback for new users," according to Philstar.

Bessey said that Microsoft was devoting more resources to making the public aware of the dangers in using pirated and cracked versions of Windows, which might be more susceptible to viruses and malware.

Of course, discounted licenses and upgrades are also good ways to entice users to go legit.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
97 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Honis
    By "educated" they mean scared.
    ...making the public aware of the dangers in using pirated and cracked versions of Windows, which might be more susceptible to viruses and malware
    .
    Reply
  • Manos
    So he is calling a huge % of internet users uneducated morrons? MS you re ruining it for me now.. Too much actually. :p

    Never know though. Since noone would tell them the truth about pirating or not in order to get stats they must be getting form somewhere ( most liekly random crapatalk but anyhow.. ) so its inhouse their own relatives statistics. I cant find another way to explain how they know as much.
    Reply
  • ubernoobie
    One of my friends have pirated win7 and he learned how to update even though it says it's not geniune
    Reply
  • SerialSniper14
    Yeah I've got a friend who used a cracked version of Windows. Not only was he able to download updates "from Microsoft," but the updates he downloaded were full of trojans and malware, which completely crashed his hard drive and overclocked his processor until the inside started smoking. Hoorah for Genuine Windows 7!
    Reply
  • FoShizzleDizzle
    "Educate users" to pirate less? I am not supporting pirating but I'm afraid that what they really mean is "scare users" into pirating less by blowing the dangers as far out of proportion as possible.

    While I don't condone pirating I have a hard time condemning them as well. Hundreds of dollars to upgrade an OS, and it can only be installed on one machine? Perhaps making it so users aren't limited to legally installing a copy of a license to only one machine is a good way to make users go legit.
    Reply
  • redgarl
    More you know about computers, more likely you are to do some piracy there and there...

    I was using a lot of pirated software in the past... but it isn't the case anymore. None of my software are illegal.

    I got Windows XP and Vista 64 with MSDNAA... both legal...

    And I only use freeware now for all my needs.

    Open Office
    AVG free edition
    Gimp
    CCCP (codec pack)
    File Shredder
    Crap Cleaner
    Ashampoo Burner
    Daemon Tool Lite

    I really try to fill my needs with freewares since they do the exact same job, sometime even better than their commercial alternatives. It's my way to protest against commercials rip-off suite costing a fortune for nothing of interest. For example... Nero is now a monster over 2GB... it's big, clumsy and inferior over free alternatives.
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    redgarlMore you know about computers, more likely you are to do some piracy there and there...I was using a lot of pirated software in the past... but it isn't the case anymore. None of my software are illegal.I got Windows XP and Vista 64 with MSDNAA... both legal...And I only use freeware now for all my needs. Open OfficeAVG free editionGimpCCCP (codec pack)File ShredderCrap CleanerAshampoo BurnerDaemon Tool LiteI really try to fill my needs with freewares since they do the exact same job, sometime even better than their commercial alternatives. It's my way to protest against commercials rip-off suite costing a fortune for nothing of interest. For example... Nero is now a monster over 2GB... it's big, clumsy and inferior over free alternatives.+1. Agreed! Got Win 7 from MSDN and MSDNAA. Anyways, running Fedora most of the time anyways. Only doing Photoshop (GIMP is good, but CS4 is better for my needs), SolidWorks(again, no good free alternative), and gaming(duh!) on Windows.
    Reply
  • rodney_ws
    I have educated co-workers who are absolutely oblivious to the legalities of downloading music/movies online. In fact one office where I work just got a copyright violation notice from HBO's lawyers. Ignorance can't explain away all piracy, but it does account for a large amount. Any time anyone asks me, I tell 'em to settle if they get a letter... just pony up the $3k and stop doing whatever got you in trouble in the first place.
    Reply
  • Microsoft: More Educated Consumers Pirate Less
    wrong!


    "cheaper (not discounted) prices makes consumer pirate less"
    correct!
    Reply
  • yang
    well this makes sense, educated people tend to have good jobs. thus they have the money to spend on software instead of finding ways of getting things for free
    Reply