Best place to buy Win 10

[zippy3x]

Derek Smith said:

Well that's a lovely little story. It has no application to my situation of course. It is totally irrelevant. What you describe is stealing.

Not using Windows according to the licence is not stealing.

What would me more apt would be:

"I worked all week for my employer and they paid me with a lovely shiny five pound note. I put this in my wallet, but unfortunately it fell apart and I was unable to buy anything with it."

MS has lost nothing. Is it that difficult to grasp? I, on the other hand, have paid for something which didn't work. Because of MS's systems I was unable to get it replaced. In the end I paid more money for it to be replaced.

If you can't tell the difference between stealing and what happened in my case, then there is no hope for you.

If you are suggesting there's a moral imperative, then come up with some fanciful little parable that is based on morality and not theft. However, should you go down that alleyway, then the fact that MS ignores the decisions of courts should be included in the storyline. In any case, morality is personal. I sleep well at night.

Here's something I kept back. The CD drive didn't activate due to the failure of the OS. I couldn't change the booting system so I was reduced to taking my laptop to a computer repairerer only for him to be able to get the code of the Win7. When I returned to pick up my laptop it was running. I gave my copy of Win7 to a friend for them to use although not until after I upgraded, if that's the word, to 10 just in case I experienced any of the problems others had in upgrading.

I have clones of the HDD, for both my laptop and my desktop. Indeed, I have two for the latter. This goes against the licence. So there I am, doubly/trebly guilty of stealing money from MS according to you. Another chance to come up with another story utterly and completely different to what actually went on?

I will tell my lawyer friend she's been compared to legal secretary in a cupboard. There is a certain irony in your comparison as it is obvious you have little understanding of the law. Your Susan would probably run rings around you.

Just to make it clear to you: it is not theft. I am not a thief.

ffs - try to make a light hearted point

Let's keep this very simple Derek.

I'm not asking you too, before you go off on some tangent, but if asked, could you provide a valid retail (or OEM supplied with the computer) license key for you copy of Windows?

No? - not legal

(and the legal secretary was never in a cupboard)

[anonymous-user]

So what have we learnt here?
1. That as suspected the cheap keys are at the very least - "iffy"
2. That one of our most prolific posters who frequently explains the meanderings of the old bill is a self confessed abuser of licensed software

[Derek Smith]

techiedave said:

So what have we learnt here?
1. That as suspected the cheap keys are at the very least - "iffy"
2. That one of our most prolific posters who frequently explains the meanderings of the old bill is a self confessed abuser of licensed software

You think it is iffy. You are entitled to your opinion. Whether you are entitled to suggest I abuse the law is another matter of course.

I was also concerned as to the legality. Instead of going by preconceived ideas I sought legal advice. The advice I got was that for me, and in the circumstances I described, my use of such a key was legal.

I used to know quite a bit about criminal law. I studied it for years: to get me through exams and just to learn. For five years I taught criminal law to police officers. I've got a good grounding, and better than most. Yet even so I approached a lawyer just to ensure such keys were legal. Yet you seem to be preferring the opinions of people who have no background of criminal law and who have not sought such advice.

But then that's internet forums for you I suppose.

[Derek Smith]

zippy3x said:

ffs - try to make a light hearted point

Let's keep this very simple Derek.

I'm not asking you too, before you go off on some tangent, but if asked, could you provide a valid retail (or OEM supplied with the computer) license key for you copy of Windows?

No? - not legal

(and the legal secretary was never in a cupboard)

zippy3x said:

ffs - try to make a light hearted point

Let's keep this very simple Derek.

I'm not asking you too, before you go off on some tangent, but if asked, could you provide a valid retail (or OEM supplied with the computer) license key for you copy of Windows?

No? - not legal

(and the legal secretary was never in a cupboard)

If you want to keep it light, don't accuse me of theft. Have I kept that simple enough for you?

You suggest that the legality of use is all down to whether a licence key can be provided. That's incorrect.

I doubt the vast majority of the users of Windows know their licence key.

[zippy3x]

Derek Smith said:

If you want to keep it light, don't accuse me of theft. Have I kept that simple enough for you?

You suggest that the legality of use is all down to whether a licence key can be provided. That's incorrect.

I doubt the vast majority of the users of Windows know their licence key.

This is getting surreal.

You've admitted to buying and using a licence key of ebay (I believe). This will not be a valid retail licence key.

You know, I know it, everyone reading knows it.

Nobody cares if you do it. Just don't sit there typing on your unlicensed copy of Windows insulting everyone's intelligence by claiming you're installation is legal, and you somehow occupy the moral high ground

[anonymous-user]

Derek Smith said:

You think it is iffy. You are entitled to your opinion. Whether you are entitled to suggest I abuse the law is another matter of course.

I was also concerned as to the legality. Instead of going by preconceived ideas I sought legal advice. The advice I got was that for me, and in the circumstances I described, my use of such a key was legal.

I used to know quite a bit about criminal law. I studied it for years: to get me through exams and just to learn. For five years I taught criminal law to police officers. I've got a good grounding, and better than most. Yet even so I approached a lawyer just to ensure such keys were legal. Yet you seem to be preferring the opinions of people who have no background of criminal law and who have not sought such advice.

But then that's internet forums for you I suppose.

From Microsofts own guide:

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer):

Pre-installed software that comes with hardware. May not be transferred or licensed anywhere other than the original device

Obviously if it works for you then great but that's how MS see it.
If you choose to see it differently again fine.

[Order66]

Derek Smith said:

You seem to agree that I do not use pirated software. At last; my point must have been well made.

No I don't agree and you have no point, you are incorrect. Piracy is just a term from the 1990s that few that have any professional interest in software licensing would use, however if you want a definition of it, Microsoft say

Microsoft said:

Software piracy is the unauthorized copying, reproduction, use, or manufacture of software products.

So use without the correct license = unlicensed = unathorized = piracy.