From: Jeff Shultz 

No surprise - I had a customer box the other day refuse to install SP2
because of it...

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:52:04 -0800, Chris wrote:

> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/26/microsoft_pirate/
>
> MS updates: real Windows users only need apply By Lucy Sherriff
> Published Wednesday 26th January 2005 12:26 GMT
>
> Microsoft is to stop providing updates to non-genuine versions of its
> Windows XP operating system as part of its anti-piracy campaign.
>
> The company also says it is changing the way some of its Certificates of
> Authenticity (COAs) are matched during activation. This is because "a
> significant number" of COAs are stolen from resellers and resold as new.
>
>  From the middle of 2005, the company will require users to participate
> in its "Windows Genuine Advantage" authentication program,
if they want to
> receive software updates from the Microsoft Download Centre or from
> Windows Update. However, it will still provide security patches for
> pirated systems, which will be available via Automatic Updates in Windows.
>
> The scheme has been running as a pilot since September 2004 for English
> language version of XP. These trials will now be extended to include 20
> more languages, and Microsoft says more content from the download centre
> will be made available to participants.
>
> In addition, a variation of the scheme in China, Norway and the Czech
> Republic will offer discounts on genuine copies of XP to participants who
> discover that they are unwittingly running pirated software.
>
> Microsoft says pirated software hurts resellers, as well as taking a hefty
> chunk out of its own bottom line. It argues that counterfeit versions of
> Windows can be sold at artificially low prices, pushing legitimate system
> builders out of the market. R

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