Do you have pirate software in your computer?

[george]

Poll:Windows XP "original" still only 100 Baht in Bangkok

Do you pay more?

Do you have pirate software in your computer?

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=275

Everybody here have original XP, or??

[Darek]

You can only expect honest replies from people accessing this forum from an Internet cafe. If the police are going to be so serious about illegal software they might track the IP numbers of the respondents and raid their houses.

When people get to know their way better at the Internet they will not need the shops anymore and download their software from the hackers and they will save 80 from the 100 THB (20 THB for the cost of an empty CD)

[poohbah]

If the police are going to be so serious about illegal software they might track the IP numbers of the respondents and raid their houses.

Are you serious?

The Police don't even take the time to shut down Panthip.

Unless you are manufacturing thousands of copies you have nothing to worry about.

[dazdaz]

Well firstly the IP may be of a router or proxy, or an internet cafe or a friends machine so they would do better by chasing down the pirates selling this stuff internationally on a commercial basis.

I recommend people look into Open Source, like Linux for example and the many o/s applications.

I don't think piracy will end, simply because the price of commercial software in Asia is too expensive for the Asian economy.  It's that simple.  This is why Open Source in Asia is taking off in a big way, and will explode here anytime soon!

[tracer]

Well, as I repair and sell PC's I Do run an original Xp home. for the 3700 I paid just not worth the risk.

In addition I have a 95 (floppies), 98 upgrade which in the past I was given....

I donot use office, only word and I have an original, didnt buy it someone gave to me who went to Mac...

For the rest my email and other stuff is original and I used it for years. But obviously I have loads of specialised shareware products most may get used rarely in case of problems so those arent originals...

Even have an original dictionary program, why not for 280 baht in big C...

Windows (original) I sell at cost as I make sure customers know support if screwups exists are MS screwups not mine(g)

[dazdaz]

Here is a free Microsoft Office replacement!

Microsoft Office is'nt so good because of,

a) it's price

it's over complexity

c) it's stupid anti-piracy activation

Again, here's a cool replacement!

http://www.openoffice.org/

Runs on,

Linux

Solaris

MacOS X

Windows

There are other free Office replacements if your interested.

Out of curiosity, how many Thai's have PC's at home?

Have fun.

[drbones666]

I've got TONS of pirated stuff.

OTOH, I also tend to buy what I find myself using over a years time.  I've actually purchased Quake, Toast, OS X.2 and many shareware progies.  If I can't do a long term trial first, stuff  em'.

When I was using win-doze I NEVER paid for anything from M$.

>Again, here's a cool replacement!

>http://www.openoffice.org/

Thanks for that one.  Checking it out now.

[francois]

hi' everybody

windoze ... well, are you obliged to use it ?

think twice !

in any Linux distribution, there more programs that you may need, and I mean, you have to make a choice at the installation ...

Linux is no longer reserved to "geek" or Hackers.

don't make mistake between a Hacker and a cracker or a script-kiddy !

I say Hackers, because contrary to what all people think,

Hacking is a state of mind, you could say also,

"no problem, without a solution" which reflect the Hacker's way, learning and learning .. never stop learning !

Just "STOP" to spend xxx$$$ for a system on which you have to spend more time to maintain it working than to work on it !

turn yourself to Free "Open-Source" OS like LInux or FreeBSD,

and there will be no question about piracy !

just give it a try,don't be afraid about the reputation of such

system ..so called"reserved to pro" ... it's no longer valid  

have fun on computing for free ...

francois

[Butterfly]

hi' everybody

windoze ... well, are you obliged to use it ?

think twice !

in any Linux distribution, there more programs that you may need, and I mean, you have to make a choice at the installation ...

Linux is no longer reserved to "geek" or Hackers.

don't make mistake between a Hacker and a cracker or a script-kiddy !

I say Hackers, because contrary to what all people think,

Hacking is a state of mind, you could say also,

"no problem, without a solution" which reflect the Hacker's way, learning and learning .. never stop learning !

Just "STOP" to spend xxx$$$ for a system on which you have to spend more time to maintain it working than to work on it !

turn yourself to Free "Open-Source" OS like LInux or FreeBSD,

and there will be no question about piracy !

just give it a try,don't be afraid about the reputation of such

system ..so called"reserved to pro" ... it's no longer valid  

have fun on computing for free ...

francois

I care to disagree. OpenSource is not for the "amateur".

A lot of applications are broken or badly "ready" for distribution. StarOffice and OpenOffice is one example. if you are not a pro, stay with Windows.

I hate M$ but at least their WinXP/Win2K is more than enough for doing my workstations things. Why should we re-invent 10 years of experience with M$ Windows ? This does not make sense...

[dazdaz]

This depends if you mean your going to compile the applications themselves or use packages.

Learning a little to save money, especially for Thai's who can't afford the greedy license fees for Microsoft software, choose Open Source because it's legal.  

There is another free Microsoft Word clone, but I can't recall the name of it at the moment.

Regards

[cobra]

Ok, because most people in Asia are running 250 baht copies of XP, (which runs just fine), few are putting out the ~14000b for MS's OEM XP Pro, that can only live on one machine at one time, Billy dropped down to only the 23th wealthiest person in the world, I feel bad about that, ...

The Indian programmers from New Delhi are quite adapt at stripping any key gen or other activation schemes, a lot of p-software is generated there.

If reasonably priced I'll always purchase legit ,especially if I think I'm going to be needing support.

[Darknight]

Since i'm a MS consultant in It i've got almost everything they ever made.

But do you really think i'm gonna buy exchange server for example to learn it and test on it ???? it's only around 4000 euro for 5 licenses....Dream on

I'll have my customers buy it and that should be enough for mr gates.

In my 10 years as an IT consultant i still have to see more then 5 company's raided for their licensing. and they were mostly pc shops selling illegal office's.

You have nothing to worry about as an end user....

[rod_kalashnikov]

 

[Axel]

Let me raise a stupid question, or is it?

How do you know you have a fake installed?

Like the other day, I asked a local company (I know them for many years) to upgrade my home computer. Tehy suggested, to buy a new box, a new hard disk, keep some old hard ware, threw Win 98 out and installed XP-professional.

XP is showing to be registered in my name. When I made an update of all MS-patches I got a question if I might have bought a fake, or something to that effect, the patches were not installed. However, every couple of days Bill Gates sends me a message that there are new patches to be installed, which I do successfully.

So again my 'stupid' question, do I have a real one or a fake XP? If you buy any computer with OS and softtware pre-installed in Bangkok, how do you know what's inside?

[cobra]

How do you know you have a fake installed?

You can run a check on the Activation Key (it's on the disk if they gave it to you, any reputable shop can run the key and tell you or you can hit MS's support and they'll check it.

If they built your box they probably installed their licensed dealer OEM version of XP which is essentially the same as the retail.

Even if it's an illegal, you'll still be able to update and install patches. Most don't know they're running a copy until they try to do a "repair" (at some point you probably will, some viral mishap or other, etc,). When you run "Repair" (from the installation disk), it won't see a "previous version" so you'll have to do a full install, (strip, format, partition, etc, which is no big deal just time consuming),

The "is this a legal copy" message is most likely default, I get this even with my retail copy. MS is probably trying to get a handle on the amount of illegal copies running. Cheers

[Spee]

Everybody here have original XP, or??

Yes, original. I'm not in the habit of stealing software.

What I don't understand is why people insist on calling use of illegal software piracy? It's much too glamorous of a term.

Use of illegal software is theft, plain, pure and simple. Anyone who uses illegal software is a thief, plain, pure and simple.

I could give a crap what people think of Gates, MS, and other people and companies like them, especially when it comes to trying to use that as an excuse to use stolen software.

It's not about what one thinks about other people or companies. It's about what one thinks about themselves.

[simon43]

In my case I needed to buy a telephony card for my PC. The manufacturer was Intel, but I had to purchase this card from a local Thai distributer. The card should be sold at about $500 and include the Service Level Agreement and licensed software drivers/applications.

What did they sell me? The card plus a pirate copy of the drivers that didn't work and no SLA etc!

This is an official Intel distributer. After 6 weeks of requesting the 'official' software I have got no-where. So I have $500 of useless telephony card...

I have 3 options it seems.

1 - Buy the same card again when I'm in the UK and get the official software.

2 - Complain to Intel parent company.

3 - Name and shame this Thai distributer??

Their reason for not supplying me with the official software was that it was too expensive and so a copy would be OK!!

[Up2U]

How do you know you have a fake installed?

Even if it's an illegal, you'll still be able to update and install patches. Most don't know they're running a copy until they try to do a "repair" (at some point you probably will, some viral mishap or other, etc,). When you run "Repair" (from the installation disk), it won't see a "previous version" so you'll have to do a full install, (strip, format, partition, etc, which is no big deal just time consuming),

The "is this a legal copy" message is most likely default, I get this even with my retail copy. MS is probably trying to get a handle on the amount of illegal copies running. Cheers

Patches download OK, but the Service Packs do not. (Pirate!!!)

But then you can buy a CD Service Pack in Panthip Plaza, so no prob's.

[Axel]

Tks Cobra and Up2U. So seems my XP at the home computer is not quite kosher.

Service packs did not work.

Spee, I might agree to what you say, but than where to start?

As long as there are shops open where you can buy what you need and as long as there are 'official' dealers who do not want to sell to you what you need, I am not sure which alternative to take.

Take the old grandma (ok mother) who walks into a Panthip shop to buy a computer. She wouldn't know what is what.

So my meaning, start at the source and stop sales of any fakes. Not only computer parts and software, watches, clothings a.s.o.

Ah, I wear a watch, US-brand, not too expensive. The service station in Bangkok where I wanted to replace the watchband after the guarantee-period expired, clearly told me they are not interested in such small business like Baht 500.

My choice, Silom or Sukhumvit for 50 Baht.

[Yohan]

Let me raise a stupid question, or is it?

How do you know you have a fake installed?

Like the other day, I asked a local company (I know them for many years) to upgrade my home computer. Tehy suggested, to buy a new box, a new hard disk, keep some old hard ware, threw Win 98 out and installed XP-professional.

XP is showing to be registered in my name. When I made an update of all MS-patches I got a question if I might have bought a fake, or something to that effect, the patches were not installed. However, every couple of days Bill Gates sends me a message that there are new patches to be installed, which I do successfully.

So again my 'stupid' question, do I have a real one or a fake XP? If you buy any computer with OS and softtware pre-installed in Bangkok, how do you know what's inside?

PM me for more info, I would say.

Yes, you got a fake, but this can be repaired, if you know, how to do it.

Johann

[Boon Mee]

That's all I've got in my machine and it's buggy as he11. Got to get this sucker cleaned up...

[Spee]

I might agree to what you say, but than where to start?

It's a good question with deep philosophical, cultural, educational and economic arguments. I'm certainly not going to pretend to have all the answers.

For a big conglomerate like MS, the theft hurts a lot but it will never be enough to break them. The legitimate market is just too big.

It is also a bit of a double-edged sword because on one hand people are using illegal products. But on the other hand, through the use and availability of the illegal products, many people do get exposed to things like learning opportunities, that might not otherwise be available. Maybe because of this exposure, in the future they might be able to afford to buy a legit system.

In the purely legal sense, I don't know how much difference there is between:

- the yai noi who buys a computer from a shop where she thinks all is legit, but the shop owners know otherwise

or

- a person who has a legal or illegal copy of something like Office2000 and then makes a 100 CD's to give out to all of his friends.

or

- a company that pays for a few number of licenses and then copies the software on to double or triple that number of computers.

My understanding is that while companies like MS are concerned about piracy and reverse engineering that is going on in places like China and Thailand, their main area of focus and priority is on companies and individuals with tangible assets, who are stealing software.

While it's certainly not profitable for them to see their products blatantly stolen, neither is it profitable for them to pursue people without any money or decent means of support.

However as someone who used to work for a company that was stealing software, and has seen first hand the results of MS tactics, a company or individual does not want to be on the receiving end of that kind of full assault. It ain't pretty and resolving it sure as heck ain't cheap.

It all gets back to the individual. For someone who has the means to pay, but chooses to steal, then I say you get what you ask for when you are caught.

Same thing goes for individuals who are making business decisions for a company that involve stealing software. They put themselves and their firms at huge risk like huge fines, double or treble damages, and possible jail time or loss of the business.

For the company I worked for that got caught, to resolve their problem it cost them more than double what it would have cost to just buy full retail priced legal versions of everything. It was a huge hit in the wallet.

On the other hand, for someone who is poor and desparate and may have no other opportunity to use a computer, except for some cheap garage built PC with pirated software sitting in some small town internet cafe, I don't know how someone could have the heart to find enough fault to prosecute.

I just don't know what the answer is. In some cases, the offenses are so blatant that they demand and deserve to get slammed. In other cases, the offenses are almost pitiful because of the sheer desparation and desire to learn how to use computers to better themselves.

[Axel]

I might agree to what you say, but than where to start?

It's a good question with deep philosophical, cultural, educational and economic arguments.

Very much so....

On the long run, in my own experience, people want to have the real thing.

Now for business use I do not tolerate any copies. It is a matter of setting an example and, yes, legal action. Wether or not in Thailand you always get the real software is another question, at least I got for every single item an official tax-receipt.

Over the years I learned that fakes can be a good marketing. Not only talking about computers. For years you could buy in Hong Kong or Taiwan let's say, Rolex, Breitling etc. watches. The clients usually were foreigners, only, as the sellers would not trust to sell to a local. Suddenly the one or other admitted having bought (for an anniversary) the real watch. They probably would not have done so, without having tested the fake before.

The same is true for videos (people getting fed up with the lousy pictures) shirts and even books. For latter Taiwan was (in) famous. You could buy copies in large shops before the original was in the stores. Paper and print quality was miserable and you might not put it on a bookshelf.

Today, Hong Kong and Taiwan are not longer 'developing' countries. The shops disappeared for two reasons. 1) Locals do not buy fakes, 2) For foreigners it became too expensive.

So remains Thailand (and China plus some more countries like Vietnam etc.)

If and when the countires become richer the fakes will disappear.

Believe also for computer software. As long as you can use it for a trial period and than decide to buy or not, the consumer will buy the real one after the trial period. Or buys a cheap fake and on the long run switches to a real one.

If the prices are getting closer, fakes go up, reals come down, the market will move to genuine products as deemed more reliable.

But as said, the address should be to the dealers. Again not only for computers. Think of car parts BRAKES etc.....

[Wie]

Let me raise a stupid question, or is it?

How do you know you have a fake installed?

Like the other day, I asked a local company (I know them for many years) to upgrade my home computer. Tehy suggested, to buy a new box, a new hard disk, keep some old hard ware, threw Win 98 out and installed XP-professional.

XP is showing to be registered in my name. When I made an update of all MS-patches I got a question if I might have bought a fake, or something to that effect, the patches were not installed. However, every couple of days Bill Gates sends me a message that there are new patches to be installed, which I do successfully.

So again my 'stupid' question, do I have a real one or a fake XP? If you buy any computer with OS and softtware pre-installed in Bangkok, how do you know what's inside?

Hi Axel,

I used to run a network on illegal XPs and had several problems, sometimes error messages like 'you don't have access to floppy A, contact your system administrator.' Sometimes with other programs automatical detection of programs with identical ID on the network. Limited number of shared drives, 7,8 was the maximum that would work and this should not be the case with legal software.

If you buy a computer in Bangkok you'll likely have a copied version of XP, why should the shop pay an extra 7000 baht for the customer?

Cheers,

Wie

[Darknight]

hihi,

just sounds like you're a bad administrator

Pirate copie or not has nothing to do with networks running ok .

[Darknight]

Since i'm a MS consultant in It i've got almost everything they ever made.

But do you really think i'm gonna buy exchange server for example to learn it and test on it ????  it's only around 4000 euro for 5 licenses....Dream on

If you're in the business, check out the Microsoft Action Pack ... under USD500 will get you NFRs of every MS program there is, including a year of upgrades.

In my 10 years as an IT consultant i still have to see more then 5 company's raided for their licensing. and they were mostly pc shops selling illegal office's.

The stakes just gor higher. Yesterday a guy in Germany was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison with no possibility of parole, appeal, or time off for good behavior, for large-scale piracy of Microsoft programs.

Hi rod,

yes i know about the action pack , But the nfr mean NOT FOR RESALE and means you can't use it in a commercial production enviroment.

I use VM ware to test servers or do it with the customer itself, it's never a production enviroment. Most large company's have enterprise licensing anyway.

But i know Microsoft are criminals .

They don't care about home copies of windows with end users, it actually broadens their userbase and is the best way to keep linux abay . If most people learn to use a computer on windows then company's will be less likely to install something else as they need to invest a lot more in training resources.

Only the company's are targeted for licensing checks as well as they target large copiers of software (twilight cd's for example).

A single home user is just not profitable to bring to court.(lots of cost for small examples). The keyword is LARGE SCALE.

[igotworms]

<font color='#000000'>Poll:Windows XP "original" still only 100 Baht in Bangkok

Do you pay more?

Do you have pirate software in your computer?

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=275

Everybody here have original XP, or??</font>

George, just wondering: Why did you shut down the Thai marijuana policy thread while posting a topic such as this? Piracy is against Thai law as is marijuana. And, the marijuana thread wasn't about getting a fix in Thailand, but on the behavior and policies of the police towards the use of it. A thread such as this would be useful to newbies to the LoS.

[350torana]

Pirates,i always think of guys with an artificial limb , looking for buried treasure , sailing the high seas , walking the plank etc etc. I think copying is a better word.

Anyways, concerns copied software in LOS. But, the really big industry here is games. Can I admit i have bundle load of copied PC games on here? It is even hard to find originals, it just seems the norm . I am not complaning , latest pic up was Warcraft 3 for 100 baht .In Australia it would cost about 2000 baht !!

I feel little guilt when u consider the price it costs to make a cd , somewhere in the chain someone is making a big profit and little of it goes to the programmers !!!!