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Chinese-based ring counterfeited over £1 billion of software

A huge piracy ring involving Windows Vista has been smashed in China. The counterfeiting organization has been tracked by the FBI in cahoots with China’s Public Security Bureau, says the BBC .

Members of the syndicate pirated many different Microsoft apps including Windows Vista and Windows XP as well as the last two iterations of Microsoft Office. Microsoft says that information used to help track the pirates down was obtained from its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) software. Indeed it seems 1,000 fake copies made by the ring were tracked this way. The software had, according to Microsoft, spread so far as 27 countries.

The pirated software seized was worth as much as £250 million, though the ring is thought to be responsible for counterfeiting as much as £1 billion worth of software at factories in the Guangdong area.

A total of 25 people were arrested in the raids.

source: tech.co.uk

Microsoft Product Activation (MPA)
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Microsoft Product Activation (MPA) is an anti-piracy technology that is designed to help verify that the product is valid. MPA is an umbrella term for technology such as Windows Product Activation (WPA) in Microsoft Windows and Office Activation Wizard (OAW) in Microsoft Office.

MPA is designed to stop a form of piracy that is known as casual copying. Casual copying is the sharing of a single license for a product across multiple, unlicensed installations.

For example, a customer purchases a copy of Windows and installs it on a computer. Then, this customer loans the media to a neighbor, who installs it on a different computer. The second installation is not legitimate and MPA is designed to prevent that unlicensed use.

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Vista Certificate of Authenticity (COA)
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A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is a label that helps you identify genuine Microsoft software. A COA is not a software license – it is a visual identifier that assists in determining whether or not the Microsoft software you are running is genuine.
However, without it, you will not have a legal license to run Microsoft software. A COA should never be purchased by itself without the software it authenticates.

COA Variations:

To help you verify the authenticity of the Microsoft software you acquired, be sure that your software came with one of the following COAs (or a previous version) and that the COA includes the advanced anti-counterfeiting features described.

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Vista OEM Product Keys
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Definition of OEM:

The term, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) refers to companies that make products for others to repackage and sell. Resellers buy OEM products in bulk, minus the costly retail packaging that comes with individually sold units. The product itself is essentially the same as its more expensive, retail-packaged sibling. OEM products are used in many industries, but are perhaps most prevalent in electronics.

Generally, dealers of OEM products add something of value before reselling the merchandise. An OEM vendor that does this is known as a “value added reseller” (VAR). A VAR might build components, sub-systems, or systems from quality OEM parts. OEM goods allow VARs a wide range of creative marketing choices, which permits smaller dealers to be competitive in the marketplace.

OEM software will have different product numbers than retail packages, and support may be provided by the VAR, rather than the maker of the software. Functionally, OEM and retail versions of software should be essentially the same.

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by Keith Ward

May 30, 2007

Warning to users of pre-release versions of Windows Vista: in two days, your operating system will self-destruct, like the cassette tape at the beginning of Mission: Impossible.

As reported earlier, tomorrow, May 31, is the last day of full functionality for Customer Preview Program versions of Vista. That includes Vista beta 2, and both release candidates.

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Types of Vista Product Key
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Vista Product Keys are split into 3 major groups, Retail, OEM(SLP, NONSLP, COA) and VLK (MAK, GVLK, CSVLK)

Retail - What can be purchased in shops or online
Suported by Microsoft. Needs activation by phone or online.

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer (more info here)
(i.e., shipped with a new computer). OEM editions are distributed and supported by an OEM (not Microsoft)

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