Vista - Microsoft blacklists Lenovo's leaked Windows 7 OEM Key

Article by Emil Protalinski

The score was Pirates 1, Microsoft 0, but Redmond has tied it up. Microsoft has blacklisted the Lenovo OEM master key that leaked earlier this week, explaining that "Windows 7 already includes an improved ability to detect hacks, also known as activation exploits, and alert customers who are using a pirated copy" and that "Windows Activation Technologies included in Windows 7 are designed to handle situations such as this one, and customers using these tools and methods should expect Windows to detect them."

More can be read here -
Microsoft blacklists Lenovo's leaked Windows 7 OEM Key - Ars Technica

Nice to know it's not going to be so easy for the pirates anymore

The fight againts pirates is similat to the fight againts virus.
A crack or virus comes out and then it is patched.

The best way to fight piracy is a low price.

These hackers will figure out a way to bypass whatever MS tries to do, but they cannot bypass a lower price.

IMO MS charges too much for Windows. I think the $59.00 upgrade price would be awesome and curve piracy. It's better to make less money per sale and sale more volume than to make more per sale selling less volume(Sam Walton proved this many times )

LOL.

Windows is in the dominant position it is now because it has been pirated so much.

MS are getting very fast in stopping emerging cracks/hacks,as are a lot of security software makers..all good IMHO. I entered the computer world years ago via the 'backdoor' as it were and have followed the efforts of hackers with interest until a couple of years ago when the thieves and scammers started to use the 'tools' to access computers and users details.No sane person would now use any of the pirated c**p out there now without risking all...unless ,of course, they are either too naive or just plain stupid. The huge temptation these days is the immense cost of all the software required to run modern systems with all the "must-have" software. I firmly believe that if software was priced at a much more affordable level , piracy would decline to a minimal level internationally. It goes without saying that piracy will always exist though, while we have the Yoof of today all vying for attention in the belief that complex hacks etc will land them the job of being the next Bill Gates! Possibly 75% of my work is created by the damage done by hacks/cracks/trojans...so I guess you could say the pirates do create an industry income that we would lose if they didn't exist. Personally ,I'd rather see a safer computing environment than a richer one , having witnessed the angst caused to a lot of clients by the real dangers on the Net , in particular to the older population and the unwary,naive users who are targeted by these people.

Software pirates is one of the reasons I decided to become a computer tech, instead of using my programing degree.

This will only temporarily stop the pirates. Give it a few days and someone will have it cracked again. All of the software in the world can never be fully restricted. Pirates will find a way around anything, but I do agree that a lower price would stop the piracy. With high prices you have pirates...its just the way it has been.