So there I was the other day

[bjaming]

after posting a thread about the new fedora 11 release coming out and watching a bunch of "lol internet" persons posting about how they would just warez windows 7 and I got to thinking to myself.

self, 'I wonder what would happen if someone packaged a bot or root kit infested version of windows 7 or the big windows server builds (2003,2008 etc) and placed them on the real popular torrent sites?'

I was going to blog about that notion here but I also thought I didn't want to give out any malicious ideas, you know since it may be tracked back to me somehow (paranoia++)

and then not two days later I see this...

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Pi...Trojan-456054/

I guess I wasn't the only one with that idea :-)

[HighWiz]

Re: So there I was the other day

I guess I wasn't the only one with that idea :-)

But you're still a douche-bag for having the idea in the first place.

[streaker69]

Re: So there I was the other day

<shrug> If you get software from dubious sources, you pretty much deserve all the bad stuff that happens to you.

[The Dark Tangent]

Re: So there I was the other day

<shrug> If you get software from dubious sources, you pretty much deserve all the bad stuff that happens to you.

word !

[xor]

Re: So there I was the other day

--BSA Says 41 Percent of Software on PCs Worldwide is Pirated
(May 12, 2009)
According to statistics from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), 41
percent of all software installed on PCs worldwide in 2008 was pirated.
The resulting financial losses were estimated to be US $53 billion. The
level of piracy around the world increased slightly from 38 percent in
2007 to the current figure for 2008 of 41 percent. BSA CEO and
president Robert Holleyman said that while the percentage of pirated
software is lower in the US than anywhere in the world, it is still a
significant problem because more software is sold in the US than
anywhere else, which means that "the US has the highest single dollar
loss."

xor


I guess I'll finally have to buy that copy of Photochop

[Cranial]

Re: So there I was the other day

--BSA Says 41 Percent of Software on PCs Worldwide is Pirated
(May 12, 2009)

So...

Lower software retail prices by 40%.

Everyone now attains software legally.

1% increase in gross profits?

I'm not so good with this business and money's and things.

[streaker69]

Re: So there I was the other day

--BSA Says 41 Percent of Software on PCs Worldwide is Pirated
(May 12, 2009)
According to statistics from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), 41
percent of all software installed on PCs worldwide in 2008 was pirated.
The resulting financial losses were estimated to be US $53 billion. The
level of piracy around the world increased slightly from 38 percent in
2007 to the current figure for 2008 of 41 percent. BSA CEO and
president Robert Holleyman said that while the percentage of pirated
software is lower in the US than anywhere in the world, it is still a
significant problem because more software is sold in the US than
anywhere else, which means that "the US has the highest single dollar
loss."

xor


I guess I'll finally have to buy that copy of Photochop

The actual question there is how many business know they're actually using pirated software, and are using it intentionally?

[xor]

Re: So there I was the other day

So...

Lower software retail prices by 40%.

Everyone now attains software legally.

1% increase in gross profits?

I'm not so good with this business and money's and things.

Would never work, people tend to want stuff for nothing. It's all Shawn Fanning's fault

xor

[TheCotMan]

Re: So there I was the other day

Raise the prices, and a justification becomes:
"I'm going to stick it to them the way they are trying to stick it to me, and deny them their exploitation of the people!"
Lower the price, and a justification becomes:
"Ahh, but the price is so low, it is not like my paying for it will help them much, if at all."

Conclusion: People will continue to find ways to justify their actions, at least in their own mind.

[xor]

Re: So there I was the other day

Actually BSA will pay for tips if they lead to $$$. Sort of like those drop a dime boxes in Fahrenheit 451. Only sadly enough they don't come out with flame throwers and burn the pirated software/computer.

xor

[noid]

Re: So there I was the other day

Sweet. I'm gonna rat out everyone on my enemies list..

I mean..stop snitchin' yo.

[sintax_error]

Re: So there I was the other day

My first question has to be "why in the holy name of fuck would anyone download Windows 7 RC from any torrent site?" First of all, it costs nothing... Secondly, even with mass seeding, you're likely to get it faster from Microsoft directly. That being said, did no one on this planet learn the age old lesson of software shares in the days circa gnutella and the like? I mean really?

The actual question there is how many business know they're actually using pirated software, and are using it intentionally?

Not only that, but how many pencil pushing accounting personnel for said companies know that the copy of Office they bring home for their wife's friend isn't valid under the company's VLK? How many of them install company licensed software on their personal machines?

[renderman]

Re: So there I was the other day

Not only that, but how many pencil pushing accounting personnel for said companies know that the copy of Office they bring home for their wife's friend isn't valid under the company's VLK? How many of them install company licensed software on their personal machines?

Makes me think of circumstances we've all seen.

I've often inherited sites where the previous shmuck didn't keep his keys together (site was too small for volume licensing). It becomes a huge pain and expense to sort out the mess. All too often, it's a case of "I'll just take the CD to do an install" and it never comes back. After a while, yeah you technically paid for every copy running, but have no media/auth codes.

Anyone come up with a sane method for managing such small shop situations without leading to user blood on the wall?

[Thorn]

Re: So there I was the other day

Anyone come up with a sane method for managing such small shop situations without leading to user blood on the wall?

Containers.

Make one container per PC. Throw every CD with auth code in there, label it with the PC's name/model/serial number/express service code/etc. One-gallon zip-lock baggies work well for basic workstations only running Office-type suites. For power users, you'll need to have multiple bags, which I then put inside 15-qt. or 30-qt. hard plastic storage containers. Said containers also get labeled. Think Jamie's wall-o-storage on MythBusters, and you get the idea.

Stuff will still get lost, but it tends to work fairly well.

One client has three-ring binders labeled with the workstation's name. That works OK, but the 3-ring CD storage pages are a lot more expensive than baggies, and don't hold nearly as much. It's OK for basic workstations, but gets unwieldy for power users and servers.

[streaker69]

Re: So there I was the other day

Makes me think of circumstances we've all seen.

I've often inherited sites where the previous shmuck didn't keep his keys together (site was too small for volume licensing). It becomes a huge pain and expense to sort out the mess. All too often, it's a case of "I'll just take the CD to do an install" and it never comes back. After a while, yeah you technically paid for every copy running, but have no media/auth codes.

Anyone come up with a sane method for managing such small shop situations without leading to user blood on the wall?

This is exactly what I ran into when I started here. It was a mess, nothing was tracked, people took stuff home for installs, which I immediately put a stop to.

I'm using OpenAudit to currently manage the inventory here. It's good for a small shop. Has some issues that it cannot pick up license keys for some software but they're adding new stuff at times.

A little bit of user blood on the walls can be a good thing though, as it seems to keep the others in line.