Neowin News Feed for: Pirated

Death Stranding 2 PC version leaks on Steam, letting pirates play early

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:30:01 +0000

It looks like pirates are playing Death Stranding 2 on PC ahead of the launch, just as the game is about to ditch its PlayStation 5 exclusivity officially. Read more...

Windows 8.1 activation has been bypassed

Vlad Dudau — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 09:20:15 +0000

Windows 8.1 can now be activated by a "traditional" Key Management Service workaround, so even pirated software can appear to be legitimate. The hack comes only days after the OS has hit the market. Read more...

132 websites seized for selling counterfeit goods

Andrew Stevenson — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:25:12 +0000

An operation conducted by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations has seized 132 websites selling counterfeit goods and more than $175,000 from PayPal accounts. Read more...

MPAA sues website linking to pirated movies

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:02:07 +0000

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has sued Pullmylink.com, a website featuring links to free - and allegedly pirated - movies and TV shows, claiming the site promotes and profits from copyright infringement. The... Read more...

Trade group lists top 10 pirated software

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:10:17 +0000

The Software & Information Industry Association released its annual Anti-Piracy year in review this week, noting that it reached its largest piracy settlement yet in a case against Florida Benchmark – which was found using... Read more...

aXXo's Pirated Movies Used to Promote the iMac

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:10:07 +0000

The DVD ripper aXXo is without a doubt one of the most popular DVD-rippers. Even though he hasn't been active since November 2007, his rips are still widely used, even by commercial outlets such as... Read more...

Microsoft files 52 suits over pirated software

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:14:48 +0000

Microsoft is ramping up its fight against counterfeit software, this time targeting people alleged to have sold pirated versions of its programs on online marketplaces. The company said late yesterday that it has filed lawsuits... Read more...

U.S. man gets jailed for selling pirated software

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 23:22:04 +0000

36-year old Courtney Smith from Anderson, Indiana, has been sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Barker to 27 months in prison for selling more than $700,000 worth of counterfeit computer software on eBay.com. Smith... Read more...

5 Million Pirated Discs in Asia-Pacific Sting

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:18:16 +0000

Operation Trident consisted of 1,874 raids which resulted in the seizing of nearly 5 million pirated discs and the arrest of 870 people during a two-month anti-piracy operation. The large-scale operation targeted pirate production facilities,... Read more...

Why pirated Vista has Microsoft champing at the BitTorrent

Daniel Fleshbourne — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:00:20 +0000

As Microsoft Corp. gets ready to launch Windows Vista and Office 2007 to consumers, it claims a formidable new foe it lacked at its last major consumer software launch five years ago: the popular filesharing... Read more...

Half of Pirated Vista is Malware

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:21:36 +0000

According to security vendor DriveSentry, about half of downloads claiming to be free versions of Microsoft Windows Vista are in fact malicious Trojan horses. With Vista's consumer launch just days away, discussion boards and peer-to-peer... Read more...

22% of Windows Installs Pirated, 2.6Million of that Genuine?

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:11:22 +0000

Microsoft's anti-piracy tool, aka Windows Genuine Advantage, launched in 30 months ago in 2005. Since then, 512 million have tried to validate their copy of Windows and 114 million users, or 22.3%, were labeled by... Read more...

First Pirated HD DVD Movie Hits BitTorrent

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:55:34 +0000

Pirates decided that the copy protection scheme for HD DVD was worth a shot. The result? The movie is entitled Serenity and was made available as a .EVO file which is playable on most DVD... Read more...

Warner CEO Admits His Kids Pirated Music

Tom Warren — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 17:12:26 +0000

According to Reuters, Warner CEO Edgar Bronfman recently admitted that his kids stole music. When asked whether any of his seven kids stole music. "I'm fairly certain that they have, and I'm fairly certain that... Read more...

Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says

Steven Parker — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:14:34 +0000

Microsoft said supposedly pirated copies of its new Vista computer operating system "will be of limited value" to those who use them. Microsoft responded Tuesday to reports that some Web sites have been circulating pirated... Read more...

2 Year Old Pirated Keys Defeats WGA

Steven Parker — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 16:08:36 +0000

On July 18, Microsoft's WGA team promised to send me a disk with a product key from their blocked list. It was supposed to arrive via overnight service, but it was never sent. After several... Read more...

Microsoft sues 26 suspected US dealers of pirated software

Steven Parker — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 09:49:24 +0000

Microsoft filed 26 federal lawsuits against companies suspected of dealing in pirated copies of its lucrative Windows and Office computer software, a release said. Microsoft gathered evidence against software sellers and installers through an investigation... Read more...

Microsoft Sues U.S. Stores Over Pirated Software

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 19:48:09 +0000

Microsoft Corp. sued four small software retailers in California and Virginia on Wednesday for selling pirated software. Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said it had received complaints from consumers and businesses who had purchased... Read more...

$1 Amnesty for Pirated Software

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 14:45:45 +0000

Microsoft has reached a deal with Indonesia over the tens of thousands of pirated versions of Windows programs used in government departments. Ministers said Microsoft had agreed an amnesty under which a... Read more...

Pirated Windows Fixes Cut

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 10:16:08 +0000

Microsoft is to crack down on users running pirated versions of its operating system. While the company will still allow users to download security fixes, their options will be limited in the future. There are... Read more...

Website claims XP used pirated software

Daniel Fleshbourne — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 13:59:59 +0000

A REPORT on German website Tec Channel claimed that pirated software was used to create some audio files in the Windows Media Player tour in XP. Tec Channel said that if a hex editor is... Read more...

Doom 3 pirated en masse prerelease

Tue, 03 Aug 2004 00:40:08 +0000

The BBC reports that thousands of illegal copies of the game are downloaded the weekend before the PC shooter finally hits stores. Just days before the game was set to hit US... Read more...

Microsoft: SP2 Will Not Install on Pirated Copies of XP

Tue, 11 May 2004 10:30:54 +0000

Thanks Cryton. Contrary to the remarks it made to the ComputerTimes, Microsoft now claims that it will not permit users who have obtained Windows XP illegally to upgrade to its latest service release. Instead, the... Read more...

Microsoft Longhorn pirated and sold in Asia

Daniel Fleshbourne — Tue, 02 Dec 2003 08:39:55 +0000

SOFTWARE PIRATES have made an early beta copy of Microsoft Longhorn available on CD, but it's years before the OS will be released. The Longhorn alpha is a pirated version of the edition distributed to... Read more...

Study: Pirated CDs now 1/3 of global market

Fri, 11 Jul 2003 02:31:24 +0000

Production of pirated recordings of music increased by 14 percent last year and now account for a third of all CDs sold around the globe, an industry group reported Thursday. The... Read more...