Microsoft halves number of available TechNet keys


Recommended Posts

Microsoft has quietly changed the terms of its TechNet subscription service by reducing the number of product keys made available for download to its users, The Register has learned.

On 15 September Redmond lowered the number of product keys dished out to TechNet subscribers from 10 to a maximum of five, in Microsoft?s latest effort to stamp out software piracy.

However, MS made the switcheroo without first informing its subscribers of the tweak to its TechNet small print. Product keys are used by Microsoft and other software vendors to certify that a user's copy of a particular program is genuine, and they typically require online activation.

Source

I can't imagine many people being happy about that :crazy:

The system does get thoroughly and blatantly abused. I see these things for sale on Craigslist pretty much every day (valid product keys for every edition of Windows, 30$ each, etc). I suspect that people who can prove a legitimate need for keys will still be able to access them by contacting Microsoft.

You can always request more from MS if you too.

Why do people always need to ruin a good thing?!?!? ****ing pirates.

MS was pretty generous with the keys.

Remember the golden rule: piracy is never to blame for anything. It's always the greedy corporations or DRM or something else, never piracy :rolleyes:

Blame isn't the issue here. I assume people used to pirate these all the time? I am not a member of TechNet nor do I pirate my OS, so I cann't really comment on that.

However they seem to have done this without talking to existing customers first. That is very poor.

However they seem to have done this without talking to existing customers first. That is very poor.

Not unless there's anything in the contract.

Somewhere between 99.5 and 99.9987% of Neowin users with TechNet subscriptions are already violating the terms anyway and so should simply shut up and be happy they're allowed to do so at all.

Not unless there's anything in the contract.

Somewhere between 99.5 and 99.9987% of Neowin users with TechNet subscriptions are already violating the terms anyway and so should simply shut up and be happy they're allowed to do so at all.

how so and where is your proof ?

how so and where is your proof ?

People here are using software from TechNet in a production environment, when TechNet actually only gives you limited evaluation licenses. You are not allowed to download, say, Windows 7 and put it on your PC for everyday use. If you've been here a while, it's blatantly obvious that this is what most on Neowin do.

Obviously there are also legitimate users here, but they are a minority.

Somewhere between 99.5 and 99.9987% of Neowin users with TechNet subscriptions are already violating the terms anyway and so should simply shut up and be happy they're allowed to do so at all.

Ignorant generalisation is ignorant.

To counter piracy? Huh...

Piracy is basically about either cracking software to treat invalid product keys as legit, or making keygens.

How will dishing out less keys help there?

I think the honest reason is a less popular one, but much more straightforward:

They simply don't want TechNet subscribers to get as much for their money, in order to sell more. Period.

If this was truly about piracy, it would imply lowered subscription prices to go along with their added restrictions.

Piracy is basically about either cracking software treat invalid product keys as legit, or making keygens.

Not at all. Selling product keys online is big business. When you see someone selling product keys for Microsoft products, they are committing fraud, and are most likely selling keys that are either stolen or come from TechNet.

I think the honest reason is a less popular one, but much more straightforward:

They simply don't want TechNet subscribers to get as much for their money, in order to sell more. Period.

If it isn't at least part of the reason, it should be. TechNet is so unbelievably abused as a way for people to get cheap software. People treat it as a subscription service for software, and often for their entire families and even friends.

I hope you are joking because yes, it is expensive.

For something that you'll use for years, no it isn't. Plus you don't have to buy it; if you're so poor you can't afford it (how did you afford a computer?) go use Linux or something. Saying things like "Technet should be ripped off" sounds like something a bratty little kid would say. Whatever the cost is it's no excuse for piracy.

A 'System Builder' license of Windows 7 Home Premium costs 87.90 ? here. Hardly what I'd call expensive.

For something that you'll use for years, no it isn't. Plus you don't have to buy it; if you're so poor you can't afford it (how did you afford a computer?) go use Linux or something. Saying things like "Technet should be ripped off" sounds like something a bratty little kid would say. Whatever the cost is it's no excuse for piracy.

I'm talking about retail pricing, as OEM deals aren't available everywhere. I did purchase the OEM license for Windows 7 for my home PC's.

But talking to almost everyone else I know, I am one of the only people to actually have a legal license for Windows. They all have said if the FULL version (not upgrade) was around $150, they would consider it.

Anyhow ... back on topic ... this is a crap move by Microsoft, just the fact they have not told anyone before they would be doing this, and even after people purchased memberships.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • The concern of this article is not getting "hacked". No one is taking over my Google account and anyone that was is far away from self-hosting their passwords. It was about your big tech account of choice deciding to reduce features or getting out of the password manager business altogether. Bitwarden (or say Proton) is professional security company offering opensource solutions. They are going no where and one can easily download or export their passwords to another password manager service regardless. They again also offer self-hosted option. I doubt many people were sold on this solution based on the write up. The author had a number of warnings and caveats themselves. A local, self-managed solution is not for 99% of users.
    • I've owned nothing but ATi/AMD GPUs since 2002, after my last nVidia GPU in 2001 (3dfx before that), IIRC, and in all of that time I recall getting this error maybe once, certainly no more than twice. Despite all the scuttlebutt as to how poor AMD drivers are supposed to be that has certainly not been my experience at all... Usually it has been a configuration problem of some kind. Then again, since we're dealing with OS versions that are EOL, it could easily be an OS version discrepancy. It's still weird to think that Win11 has been officially out for more than five years!
    • AI will never be the jobs panacea some companies fantasize about today. Oracle is likely using it as an excuse, which we will see a lot of companies doing, I'm certain. They love their "plausible" excuses for their downturns. A couple of weeks ago my wife asked me to call Krogers about some discrepancy in a online grocery order, and it will be the last time either of us does that. I'll just do emails with humans from now on... The AI experience was horrible--the obviously recorded voice started asking a bunch of questions about our orders six months prior(!) and saying, "Is this in reference to your order on January 6, for $****?" You say "No!" and immediately the next question is "Is this in reference to your order on January 29th, for $****?" again, I answered "No!"--and it was incredible--on and on it went like that for fully 20 minutes until we finally got to the present, and only then was I put through to a human with authentic intelligence... I wondered why on Earth the idiot AI didn't start with the most recent orders and work back from there, as it was something anyone with a functioning brain would have done. And why didn't the AI have enough sense to ask me what the problem was in the first place? It didn't take too much deduction to understand that the goal of this "AI" was to cause the person on the phone to hang up in disgust, with no resolution of the problem. That begs another question: why pay for a tool-free problem line if the goal is to avoid solving your customer's problems?... Fortunately, Krogers does have real humans capable of reading an email and understanding it, and if she sees another situation in the future that's route she or I will take. The online grocery delivery service from Krogers has been great, over all, but their AI truly sucks.
    • AI is the justification that company administrators use to lay people off; it is not the end all, be all touted in the media (many of whom can't tell a microchip from a potato chip). Greed is main driving factor behind its adoption; the other is remaining relevant in the face of competition from other entities.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      479
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      172
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      103
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      88
    5. 5
      neufuse
      70
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!