M$ uses pirated software in XP!

LinuxNewb · #1 22nd November 2004, 10:09 PM

Where Story is Taken

Pirated software used to create help content in Microsoft's Windows XP

Chicago (IL) - Members of a former software cracking group have discovered that audio files created with one of its cracked programs are distributed with each copy of the Windows XP operating system, possibly exposing Microsoft to a large-scale copyright infringement lawsuit.

The content in question can be found on every computer with Windows XP as operating system installed. Nine WAV audio files located in the folder " "Help\Tours\WindowsMediaPlayer\Audio\Wav" in the Windows installation directory include a signature of "Deepz0ne", a member of former cracking group "Radium". If the files are opened not with an audio player, but with a HEX editor or simply in Windows' own text editor Notepad, the last line displays as "000-04-06 IENG Deepz0ne ISFT Sound Forge 4.5".

A source confirmed to Tom's Hardware Guide, that the signature is "authentic for the cracked version of Sound Forge 4.5" and relates to the cracker Deepz0ne. "The Radium group has been dissolved about four years ago, but still meets every week in a casual manner," the source said. "One of the members circulated the information at a birthday part last weekend and then pitched the story apparently to Germany's PC Welt magazine," he said. PC Welt published the story the same day.

Sound Forge is a professional audio editing software popular among audio enthusiasts. Sony recently has purchased the intellectual property of the product from Sonic Foundry, which developed and sold version 4.5.

According to Benjamin Kern, attorney at Chicago-based law firm Gordon & Glickson LLC, the use of a pirated version of Sound Forge can result in a copyright infringement claim: "Other legal issues, such as patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and contract breach may also be relevant, but copyright infringement is the most prominent," Kern said. It is unclear at this time, if the current owner Sony or the orginal developer Sound Forge have the right to bring legal action against Microsoft.

When software is transferred from one party to another, the transfer agreement often also includes the transfer of a right to bring an action for infringement, according to Kern. "In this case, if Sound Forge transferred its copyright in the software to Sony, it is not clear whether Sound Forge or Sony owned the copyright at the time the infringement was committed," Kern said.

At this time, liability also appears to be unclear. "Ultimate financial responsibility depends on whether a copyrighted work was provided to Microsoft by a third party, who may be responsible to Microsoft, by contract or otherwise, for any liability Microsoft could face," Kern explained.

Potential remedies for a copyright infringement include actual damages plus profits of the infringer, or set statutory damages. Given the profits Microsoft rakes in with Windows XP, even a small percentage of the profits could result in an unexpected windfall for Sony.

Sony and the Business Software Alliance were contacted by Tom's Hardware Guide but so far have not yet responded to the accusations. Microsoft declined to comment "at this time".

Shadow Skill · #2 23rd November 2004, 03:19 AM

*falls out of chair dead from laughter

Oh the irony!

pbtpu40 · #3 23rd November 2004, 04:11 AM

Beer anyone? I think this deserves a toast. They say my piracy steals money... look at them. *opens beer, then pours a shot*
ROFLMFAO. Did they not have the money to buy Soundforge?

imdeemvp · #4 23rd November 2004, 04:23 AM

LinuxNewb, you are not that new.....

carbo18 · #5 23rd November 2004, 04:35 AM

------ ------ ------ ----- ------ -----
Ha! Ha!

LinuxNewb · #6 23rd November 2004, 03:50 PM

LOL well im still fairly new to linux, imdeemvp

altho i know this name will still be my name on here years down the road, i still like it lol , only thing i could think of when i registered

Prometheus · #7 23rd November 2004, 05:49 PM

Thats awesome, just checked for fun, and it really is true. The last line of the file says deepz0ne. I booted into windows just to check that, lol. Thats awesome.

Jman · #8 24th November 2004, 12:26 AM

Um, I didn't need to boot into Windows just to check that. Yay ntfs drivers.

There may be a subtle misconception that Microsoft has put pirated code in XP. Rather, whoever provided these wavs used pirated software to generate them. So only the copies of Sound Forge that were used to make these would be infringing copyrights.

If Microsoft put pirated Sound Forge in XP, that would be huge. Major damages.

More damaging is the loss of respect for Microsoft's piracy campaign, I think.

Shadow Skill · #9 24th November 2004, 01:17 AM

Stop ruining our fun with your logic Jman!

LiNUxG0d · #10 30th November 2004, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jman

Um, I didn't need to boot into Windows just to check that. Yay ntfs drivers.

There may be a subtle misconception that Microsoft has put pirated code in XP. Rather, whoever provided these wavs used pirated software to generate them. So only the copies of Sound Forge that were used to make these would be infringing copyrights.

If Microsoft put pirated Sound Forge in XP, that would be huge. Major damages.

More damaging is the loss of respect for Microsoft's piracy campaign, I think.

IMHO, if they discovered a handfull of wavs with someone elses sig in them, they're in for a ride. It's like if the police found traces of drugs in a house, in plain sight. They could get a warrant and search the whole house.

I mean, if they did it with the wavs, what else did they rip-off??

I have a feeling some engineer at M$ lost his job right about... now. :P

Not just anyone has the rights to include items to a Windows distro. Again, IMHO, if someone decided to include wav's from some Radium cracker, I think they were associated to the group. You don't usually just go, "Oops, lookit that! I just stumbled onto some wav files!" especially when they're from a cracking group. For all we know, buddy cracked some piece of software in the XP distro and hop-alonged the wavs with it.

Windows users surely knows of: astalavista.box.sk

Why aren't THEY shut down?

Then again, I'm into conspiracy theories.

Hehehehe...

- J

pigpen · #11 30th November 2004, 04:13 PM

For those who don't have XP and need proof I have attached a screenshot. Nice one M$!

yr2alex · #12 3rd December 2004, 07:52 PM

Not in the least bit surprized, Microsoft has become an American house hold name much of which can be attributed to that fact that they themselves are (although Billy boy will probably not attest to this as being factual) per haps the largest corporate pirates in the known world. The irony, however, is that they also spearhead the largest anti-piracy efforts in America. I'll end on this note- what comes around inevitably goes around... Here's to a plentiful harvest Bill.

my $0.02 se la vive...

joe.pelayo · #13 18th November 2008, 05:04 AM

Hahaha, hilarious.

I wonder if they got the search warrant.

Code:

joe@izcoatl /mnt/windows/WINDOWS/Help/Tours/WindowsMediaPlayer/Audio/Wav $ vi wmpaud1.wav 
......large chunk of code.....
^N^N^@ÿ^A^BSA^Q^Q^EóáßÀ¯Üà^P#51O ^Gð>=àÁ^B^V$^S3ð<9f>^@^PM</^O 6Sr2 ^Q^A^DÑß¾°Ýñ^D$$0,
^_^Cò;]^Aäåõ^ST^Qà°þð^N^[^NàÀ^Crb^P^A^@ðôåðþÎÐó^MEg^W^^*"^A^M<81>ð^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^
@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^A^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@
^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^
@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@
^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@
^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^@^
@@^@^@^@LISTB^@^@^@INFOICRD^K^@^@^@2000-04-06^@^@IENG    ^@
^@^@Deepz0ne^@^@ISFT^P^@^@^@Sound Forge 4.5^@

Thanks.
Joe.

#14 18th November 2008, 05:06 AM

Four years late there Joe

You know what they say about he who laughs last?

Wayne

#15 18th November 2008, 05:13 AM

you gonna close the thread Wayne?