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Comment by giancarlostoro

3 months ago

Last I ever bothered to buy a CD key I got it off one of those gaming key sites. I have since moved on to Linux, but you can get a Pro key really cheap on those sites. I refuse to overspend to upgrade what should have been a computer with Windows Pro OOTB. If you spend over 2 grand on any computer you should not be getting Windows Home edition.

I have to ask, why even bother paying some key site? It is violating the terms of the license agreement anyway, so why not just pirate?

  • I guess if things get ugly they have some (terrible) plausible deniability? “What do you mean my $10 Windows Enterprise key is stolen? I thought that was the going rate. Linux is free”

  • Who is violating the terms? The seller or the buyer?

    If it’s the seller, would Microsoft go after the buyer?

    • Both. Microsoft would probably never go after the buyer, but I just wondered the justification people buying from the grey market are - legally speaking in many places, you're just paying money to pirate it - it's not a valid license.