Microsoft Blunder Gives Pirates Free Copies Of Windows 8 Pro
While Microsoft has closed the door on one method used by pirates to get as copy of Windows for free (leaving us to pick up the bill by keeping prices higher than they need to be), it seems that anther door was left open.
Prior to Windows 8, pirates relied on what were called “volume keys” to get a free ride. These were 25-digit activation keys used by big PC makers such as Dell and HP to activate Windows. Rather than give each PC a unique key, the same key was used over and over again, and if that key fell into the hands of the pirates, they could — with some tweaks — also use it again and again.
With Windows 8 Microsoft shook things up, and made it so that PC manufacturers had to give each PC a unique key, making it much harder for the pirates to get a free lunch.
However, over on Reddit, a user going by the name of noveleven has outlined a new workaround.
But, Microsoft is giving away free upgrade keys to turn Windows 8 Pro into Windows 8 Pro+WMC [Windows Media Center, which is a separate add-on for Windows 8], and they don’t bother to check if the key you are currently using is valid. As long as the system is activated, even if it is activated with KMS [Key Management Service], it will take the key and apply the upgrade. Since the WMC key comes directly from Microsoft and is unique for each user, it activates Windows 8 Pro permanently. Oops!
This workaround relies on the fact that Microsoft is currently offering, for a time limited period, free upgrades for the Media Center add-on, and it is this process that is flawed because Microsoft does not check the validity of the original key used to activate the copy of Windows 8 Pro before dishing out another key.Not only is Microsoft losing out on cash thanks to this blunder, but it also puts PC owners at risk from unscrupulous PCC sellers who might try to palm off an illegal copy of Windows onto users.
