Would it be piracy?

I still have my old windows 2000 cd and the license/serial that came with it. Which I still use sometimes.

I have a friend who also has been using windows 2000 but really needs to reinstall. She has the original license/serial but her original cd is damaged. Windows 2000 is no longer officially for sale, and those who have unsold copies want more money than when it was new.

If I make a copy of my original cd and give the copy to her- would that piracy because I copied a cd? Or would it be ok because she would still be using her own legal license/serial to install it?

If it isn't piracy, there is Question 2,
I'm pretty sure I can make a bootable copy of my cd, but is the windows 2000 cd copy-protected in some way so that that the windows install program will know the difference and ruin her computer because it thinks she's an evil software pirate?

Even if it was piracy, why should you care?

Yes it is piracy.
But the chance of you getting caught for that is near none.

It's a 10+ year old OS that no one with Windows cares about anymore.

Just do it.

But to answer the question, no it's not.

I may not be at much risk for being discovered as providing a copy. But she uses her windows 2000 online, and would have a much greater chance of being noticed as a pirate copy, if it is considered piracy. Especially if the OS somehow knows it was installed from a copy instead of an original. Micro$oft does case about every last penny they can legally extort from accused copyright infringers. I wouldn't want to expose anyone to that. So far, the replies here have gone both ways, 1 for piracy, 1 for not.

I have a full on pirated copy of Vista that I go online with for hours a day, they can't "find out" if you use the proper serials and whatnot.

Copying the disc to replace a broken one is far from piracy.

Just a question, why do you wan't to use Windows 2000?

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Originally Posted by starry eyes

I may not be at much risk for being discovered as providing a copy. But she uses her windows 2000 online, and would have a much greater chance of being noticed as a pirate copy, if it is considered piracy. Especially if the OS somehow knows it was installed from a copy instead of an original. Micro$oft does case about every last penny they can legally extort from accused copyright infringers. I wouldn't want to expose anyone to that. So far, the replies here have gone both ways, 1 for piracy, 1 for not.

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That would be illegal on Microsoft's part.

Well piracy(copyright infringement) basically is distribution of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright owners, also use of it of course. Make it out from that :P Can't quite make it out if it would be piracy or not when she does own the original serial etc apart from the CD o_0 But I guess technically by copying a disk and giving it to her, you are distributing copyrighted material without permission from MS:P Which would fall in under piracy.

You can always check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement if you want more info.

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Copying the disc to replace a broken one is far from piracy

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But as soon as you copy your own purchase to replace someone elses broken CD, I think you cross a line :P Since it's not a backup for personal use anymore.

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Originally Posted by starry eyes

I may not be at much risk for being discovered as providing a copy. But she uses her windows 2000 online, and would have a much greater chance of being noticed as a pirate copy, if it is considered piracy. Especially if the OS somehow knows it was installed from a copy instead of an original. Micro$oft does case about every last penny they can legally extort from accused copyright infringers. I wouldn't want to expose anyone to that. So far, the replies here have gone both ways, 1 for piracy, 1 for not.

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So "Micro$oft" is evil because they don't want people stealing their products? You're a huge idiot, I hope you know that. It's common business sense to make it so it's not super-easy to steal your product and give it to your friends. I'd like to see how much money you would make by selling an operating system for a couple hundred dollars and allowing anyone to take it for free, yet insisting on buying it.

I guess Bill Gates is also a money-hoarding evil man, which is why he gives a lot of his money away to charity, right? He's probably contributed more to society than Linus or Steve Jobs.

Wow DP, way to contribute to the conversation!
Somehow I don't think that calling her an idiot is going to help her or her friend.

Anyway,
I don't think it's really considered piracy because when you buy an OS sure you pay for the disk but you really pay for the license that allows you to use it. Her friend already has the license that she's paid for. Anyway, it's an OS that they don't sell anymore so it really shouldn't matter.

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Originally Posted by Demon Parasite

So "Micro$oft" is evil because they don't want people stealing their products? You're a huge idiot, I hope you know that. It's common business sense to make it so it's not super-easy to steal your product and give it to your friends. I'd like to see how much money you would make by selling an operating system for a couple hundred dollars and allowing anyone to take it for free, yet insisting on buying it.

I guess Bill Gates is also a money-hoarding evil man, which is why he gives a lot of his money away to charity, right? He's probably contributed more to society than Linus or Steve Jobs.

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I never used the word "evil" in reference to microsoft. You are calling me a huge idiot over words which I never said, which you said and are trying to put in my mouth.

I never expressed moral judgement of them. I said that they care about even old products if there's money to be made. I've seen it in action. At a smaller business where my cousin used to work, they decided to save a few dollars by only purchasing one copy of whatever windows they were using and installing it on all their workstations. If they had been honest and bought a copy for each workstation, it would have maybe run $4000. 5-6 years later, their OS was old and cheap and maybe worth $1000 at most, and no one should have cared too much. But micro$oft found out somehow, and by the time they were done placating the cyber-law it was far more than $4000 given to micro$oft, plus legal fees.


I use windows 2000 sometimes, but not online anymore. I couldn't afford to keep up with software to plug the neverending security holes. It's good as a general win32 platform, and can be reinstalled as many times as you want without needing to register or activate it with microsoft headquarters. I'm not a gamer, so it's not so urgent if I fall behind the tech curve.

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Originally Posted by starry eyes

I never used the word "evil" in reference to microsoft. You are calling me a huge idiot over words which I never said, which you said and are trying to put in my mouth.

I never expressed moral judgement of them. I said that they care about even old products if there's money to be made. I've seen it in action. At a smaller business where my cousin used to work, they decided to save a few dollars by only purchasing one copy of whatever windows they were using and installing it on all their workstations. If they had been honest and bought a copy for each workstation, it would have maybe run $4000. 5-6 years later, their OS was old and cheap and maybe worth $1000 at most, and no one should have cared too much. But micro$oft found out somehow, and by the time they were done placating the cyber-law it was far more than $4000 given to micro$oft, plus legal fees.


I use windows 2000 sometimes, but not online anymore. I couldn't afford to keep up with software to plug the neverending security holes. It's good as a general win32 platform, and can be reinstalled as many times as you want without needing to register or activate it with microsoft headquarters. I'm not a gamer, so it's not so urgent if I fall behind the tech curve.

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The term "Micro$oft" is generally used to portray Bill Gates or the company in general as an evil, money-hoarding business. If you're going to continue calling it that, that's exactly the kind of thing you're saying. Also, there is a problem with buying one copy of something and using it hundreds of times. Would it be the same thing if I bought one copy of OS X and installed it on all my computers, do you think Apple wouldn't care? How about if I bought one copy of Photoshop, and then pirated it on a hundred other computers in my workstation, because hey, I bought one, so I'm obviously not a pirate. Any company will take action against blatant stealing of their products.

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Originally Posted by Demon Parasite

Also, there is a problem with buying one copy of something and using it hundreds of times. Would it be the same thing if I bought one copy of OS X and installed it on all my computers, do you think Apple wouldn't care? How about if I bought one copy of Photoshop, and then pirated it on a hundred other computers in my workstation, because hey, I bought one, so I'm obviously not a pirate. Any company will take action against blatant stealing of their products.

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Irrelevant. She's only using it twice. Once on her computer, and once on her friend's.

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Originally Posted by Fableflame

Irrelevant. She's only using it twice. Once on her computer, and once on her friend's.

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I wasn't talking about her, I was talking about the situation posted earlier where people got busted for pirating 4000 dollars worth of operating systems.

Anyway, you will probably get caught eventually if you're doing any kind of business work on pirated software or operating systems, which is why professionals actually buy things like Photoshop.

There's no way to really get caught pirating Windows 2000 for yourself. Might I ask though, why is your friend still using Windows 2000? If she has at least 512 MB of RAM, she could upgrade to XP, and get a somewhat secure and compatible OS. It is piracy to install Windows 2000 on her computer with your license, but no one will care, just do it anyway.

Parasite, take your antagonistic negativity elsewhere. It's not wanted here.

Starry eyes, really, it's a matter of semantics. If your friend is using her own license, it is no different than if she had made a copy of her own disc in case of loss or breakage. Don't worry about it. On the other hand, if gaming is not an issue, and you're going to be using the computer for basic internet and word processing use, then I would strongly recommend forgetting Windows altogether and installing a distribution of Linux. Ubuntu should run on anything Windows 2000 will run on, and it's a hell of a lot better operating system for productive use.

Just my two cents.

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Originally Posted by Specialis Sapientia

Just a question, why do you wan't to use Windows 2000?

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Hey i think this guy is onto something... what idiot would use an extremely outdated OS? I do not comprehend

Man you guys are mean. Grow up.

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Originally Posted by Mark75

Man you guys are mean. Grow up.

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Of that, I agree.

To answer the mean questions
- I use win 2000 only sometimes, when I need a win32 which runs all the expensive old software I bought back when I was more into windows. I feel no urge to use any newer version of windows, I don't see any new windows software which I have a need for.

- I think my friend still uses win 2000 because XP wasn't much newer and was certainly less dependable, because Vista sucked, and her computer is underpowered for running windows 7, and she says she'd rather have a new Mac once she has enough money. And win 2000 does run the games she's into.

I guess I got the answer I needed, in between the insults. Maybe I'll find a win 2000 cd in a junkyard someplace. Well that's it, no need for me to keep watching this thread. Have a nice day, you all.

There are no semantics.
The Windows disk is a distribution.
All the data on every (identical version) disk is the same.

When you purchase Windows, you're paying for the key, not the data on the disk.

It doesn't matter where you get the installation software, as long as you have a license/key from a distributive you purchased.

And since that's the case with your friend, no, it isn't pirating, at all.

Exactly.

It's kind of like when you buy a CD in the store. You're not technically buying the music, but the license to play it and download it. It has a piece of code put into it so that if you copy it to more than 10 computers, it automatically stops working (so I've heard). As long as she still has the license to use Windows, it should be fine. It shouldn't be pirating at all. However, if you get dragged away in handcuffs one day, don't quote me on this (it's almost like a legal disclaimer. I have to say it just in case)