Pirated Windows 7 Found In U.S. Army Base




/ 11 years ago

center

The government shelled out $50 million USD to Apptricity due to the U.S. Army using Apptricity’s software on more servers and workstations than licensed. Now one soldier stationed in Qatar has stepped forward to reveal that the Army is allegedly using pirated copies of Windows 7 as well.

According to the report, this soldier claims that 18 computers in the education center at his base, Camp As Sayliyah, run unlicensed copies of Windows 7, and has done so for quite a while. Even more, these computers clearly state that the operating system is not a genuine copy of Windows 7.

invalid

Images provided to TorrentFreak show one Windows 7 computer displaying the “Windows 7 Professional product key you typed in is invalid for activation” error. Another image has the error message “You must activate today” and another shows “Windows 7, Build 7601, This copy of Windows is not genuine” at the bottom right of desktop.

The soldier told TorrentFreak that currently this is the only time he’s seen a military base running unlicensed Windows software on desktops and laptops. He claims he approached his superior about the piracy issue, but so far nothing has changed.

workgroup

“I am not anti-government in any way, but I have been in the army a long time and I feel the army should be kept honest and accountable for what they do, especially when it is so public and a hot button issue in these times,” the soldier said.

As TorrentFreak points out, it’s quite possible that the Army has keys for these computers, but they’re misplaced. Maybe the IT administrator didn’t think using pirated copies would be a big deal for the Army overseas. The latter scenario wouldn’t be surprising given the way the Army handled Apptricity’s software, which lead to the lawsuit and $50M settlement.

screen1

Regardless, Microsoft may be a bit forgiving given it just signed a $617 million licensing deal to bring Windows 8 to the Army, Air Force, and Defense Information Systems Agency.

Thank you TorrentFreak for providing us with this information
Images courtesy of TorrentFreak


Topics: , , , , , ,

Support eTeknix.com

By supporting eTeknix, you help us grow and continue to bring you the latest newsreviews, and competitions. Follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest technology news, reviews and more. Share your favourite articles, chat with the team and more. Also check out eTeknix YouTube, where you'll find our latest video reviews, event coverage and features in 4K!

Looking for more exciting features on the latest technology? Check out our What We Know So Far section or our Fun Reads for some interesting original features.

eTeknix Facebook eTeknix Twitter eTeknix Instagram eTeknix Instagram
  • Be Social With eTeknix

    Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Reddit RSS Discord Patreon TikTok Twitch
  • Features


Send this to a friend
})