Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate sells on eBay for £6.50 instead of £229.99
January 25, 2010 by puirseal · 24 Comments
Traders on eBay are selling hundreds of activation keys a day which allow users to install Microsoft’s most expensive version of Windows for less than a twentieth of its lowest discounted price.
And the world’s largest software company seems incapable of stopping the trade.
The Caledonian Mercury paid £6.50 to one of dozens of eBay sellers offering “genuine” or “authentic” activation keys. A few hours later we received an email with the 20-digit key code.
We borrowed a legitimate copy of Windows 7 Ultimate which had already been registered to somebody else and loaded it on to a computer. The code from the eBay seller was entered during the installation process.
Microsoft’s online activation process, the main protection against piracy, accepted the software and code as genuine and proceeded to download updates. With another £6.50 key it would have been straightforward to use the same disk to load and activate Windows on another PC. The official price of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition is £229.99 although Amazon, for instance, discounts it to £169.18.
We put a series of questions to Microsoft:
- Where do these keys come from?
- Has Microsoft approached eBay to ask it to stop their sale?
- Does Microsoft have any idea of the scale of the problem and what is it trying to do to prevent it?
- What dangers are posed to users of these keys?
Microsoft declined to answer most of the specific questions, but responded with a statement from its anti-Piracy manager Michala Wardell: ”Microsoft are members of the Vero [Verified Rights Owner] Programme and work with eBay to remove any sales that we believe to be infringing,” she said.
Interestingly she doesn’t say the Windows 7 keys are infringing copyright. Indeed, the same sellers have been offering them for weeks and have sold hundreds in that time apparently without eBay taking any action against them.
Ms Wardell continued: “Product key abuse is not a new problem and we have a team of people in Microsoft’s offices in Redmond [Microsoft's US headquarters] who work on blocking ‘dodgy’ keys to ensure that the number of keys leaked is kept to a minimum.
“As these kinds of activities tend to be loaded with viruses and malware, customers should be very aware. While the key may activate the software through the activation process, with Windows Genuine Advantage we are likely to pick up on the ‘dodgy’ key very quickly.
“The customer will become aware that this is a non-genuine key and they will then not be able to receive all of the benefits that genuine users have access to,” she concludes.
The statement is interesting in what it doesn’t say. The keys are described as “dodgy” rather than pirated, counterfeit or fake. There’s also a somewhat half-hearted attempted to scare off buyers of these keys with warnings about viruses and malware or the possibility of Microsoft finding them out.
The problem is the software in this case isn’t counterfeit. There are real dangers with pirate programs which have been “cracked” to remove copy protection. They often do contain malicious code which can allow hackers to take control of users’ computers. It’s also often impossible to update counterfeit software.
But the keys on sale on eBay can be used to activate genuine Windows 7 software on original Microsoft disks. They should be no more vulnerable to viruses than any other legally-bought computer program unless Microsoft recognises the codes are “dodgy” and stops providing protective updates.
Microsoft didn’t answer the question from the Caledonian Mercury about where the eBay keys originate. In the past they have come from manufacturers who pre-load the software on to computers before they are sold.
Last July a copy of the DVD used to put Windows 7 Ultimate on to Lenovo computers was leaked to a Chinese internet forum. Hackers then extracted the key and other information necessary for activation. Later Microsoft claimed to have blacklisted this master key to prevent its use.
The keys being sold on eBay are apparently all different codes. They also work with the standard activation process while the leaked master key required a few extra steps which, although simple, are clearly intended to circumvent Microsoft’s copyright protection.
The mystery of the origin of the eBay codes remains. A number of bloggers boast of having downloaded keys from Microsoft, but it’s unclear whether their reports have any substance.
There remain hundreds of keys on sale through eBay and other outlets. And the flow shows no sign of abating.
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Thanks for the tip, I was going to buy Windows7 but I think I will go the Ebay route now.
Unless MS want to go the court route I don’t see this stopping any time soon.
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They can put in as much security code as they can to stop illegal copies being banded about. If you have a valid key then that’s that.
If you have a copied version of software and then install that then yup that is illegal. If you install a genuine product and then activate it with a “bought” key from ebay then I dont think that can be illegal.
Let’s face it, if the keys on ebay are stolen then Microsoft will not admit that. If the keys have been hacked then they will not admit that either as that is showing that the Physical and software security is leaving a lot to be desired.
You can have a whole boot full of car alarms and immobilisers as you want but if you have the car key to switch them off then they are pointless.
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Microsoft’s comment about their “Windows Genuine Advantage” is a valid one – Microsoft send updates for this system frequently via the Windows Update process – and product keys acquired from “dodgy” sources are likely to become blocked sooner or later – this is likely to prevent the casual, non geek, user from being able to use the software for very long.
On a related note those wanting to purchase Windows 7 for home use would be much better with the “Home Premium” version – a genuine upgrade of which can be picked up for a more reasonable £70 or so.
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Stuff that, paying for Windoze! Linux Ubuntu is free and much more reliable!
Ps. Congratulations on your magnificent start-up! All the best.
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Good investigative piece, even if Microsoft didn’t want to play ball.
Would the sellers comment (even anonymously)?
More of the same please!
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It is not in Mirosoft’s interest to block these keys.
They require as big a take up of Windows 7 as they can possibly get to convince the Corporate customers to switch.
This is where the money is for Microsoft.
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@Russell – Ubuntu sentiment seconded!
Being a university student, I was able to get a legit version of Windows 7 (professional, not ultimate, mind you) for £35. Not too bad compared to the gasp-worthy prices you’d usually have to pay…
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It’s only by selling very cheap licences to schools and major corporations that MS is still in business … Their days are numbered.
;¬)
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Operating systems aren’t all that big a deal to Microsoft any more. They have branched out while they still can, and expect to make a lot more money from sources other than Windows.
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It would be interesting to keep your machine with the ebay key running and let us know if/when it gets the boot from the Evil Empire.
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Purchased my Windows 7 Key from Ebay on Dec 1st, 2009. Passed windows genuine validation. Today May 1st, 2010, re-ran Genuine validation and was told the key is blocked.
Microsoft needs to come out and say the following:
1) We don’t sell Keys in bulk directly to the consumers
2) You must have a COA
3) We post all the blacklisted keys so consumers will not be duped
Microsoft doesn’t care about the consumers so why should I care about them.
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First of all, fantastic news paper guys! I was sent a link from the Scottish Business Forums (www.scottishbusinessforums.co.uk).
After Microsoft’s poor sales with Vista, I don’t think that they’re going to sit back and let these keys go unnoticed. I’m interested to find out where these keys came from – was it not the case that some of the early Windows 7 DVD boxes actually had the label in clear site on the back of the box, meaning people just had to pick up the box off the shelf to get the key?
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One of my boys is studying computing and got Win 7 for free. I’ve got it on my MacBook in a BootCamp partition for interests sake more than anything else. Unless I really need Win 7 I’ll stick with using XP Pro inside a VMWare virtual machine.
It’s an interesting thing where MS are their own main competition.
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Congrats on the startup.
Reading the EULA for Windows you’ll find that even if you fork out hundreds of squid for the product it does not belong to you.
What your paying for is not the product itself but a licence to use it. The product is still the property of Microsoft.
This can result in all kinds of issues about what constitutes legal or illegal use.
In the meantime I think I’ll migrate to Linux as what I’ve seen of 7 it is just another bloated version of XP although it’s infinately better than Vista.
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Well I’m still trying to find out where these keys originate from. I’ve asked a few of the eBay sellers, but unsurprisingly none have replied. I’ve not got the dodgy version of Windows 7 running on my main PC but on one that I dual boot with Linux so I can let it run until Microsoft recognises its illegitimacy. Let’s see how long that takes.
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Microsoft in the past has admitted that even pirate copies of their products in the Far East support them in the long run as that menas they aren’t using competing software.
I also prefer Xubuntu Linux and Ubuntu Netbook Remix
very stable, suable and faster on hardware than Windows
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The ebayers will have picked up a simple “keygen” programme. Some clever “warez” geek will have worked out the algorithm for Microsoft keys and knocked up a simple programme to generate them. So the notion of blacklisting any of these keys is a fallacy. the permutations are almost infinite.
As for genuine advantage….it’s also a pretty straight forward job to get a “dodgy” copy of that as well
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Under EU and other countries privacy laws Microsoft cannot obtain user identifiable information, a windows key is personally identifiable because technically speaking there should only be one copy, therefore you are then easily identified by that number.
Microsoft wont block these keys YET as it will encourage people to use Windows 7, when the market has taken up a majority of Windows 7 then Microsoft would invest in disabling SOME keys but not all. Keys stay active in the Microsoft servers for 90 days, in that time if there is a huge surge in validations then the key is flagged, otherwise its not noticed.
I feel it is an unrealistic price to pay for an Operating system you don’t own, I like the Apple way of buying upgrade for a reasonable price, such as $39 for a new upgrade, not $299.. it just encourages piracy.
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That surge is no more than 5 activations within a specified time, I had major issues with a new HDD months back and had to reinstall several times on the same machine. On or around the 5th attempt my key was blocked, you need to phone MS to get a new one. Also if you change your HDD, CPU etc. it flags up as a new machine and yes you have to activate again. The whole WGA fiasco is a typical US reaction to getting every penny out of your pocket.
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I’ve just checked eBay and there are still keys for sale, but the number of vendors on the UK site has dropped pretty dramatically. Most of those remaining seem to be in Vietnam. On Ebay’s US site there are still plenty of keys for sale. They’re not just for various versions of Windows 7 but for Microsoft Office as well.
A little more digging and I found one of the ‘wholesalers’ who’ll sell you bundles of 100 assorted activation keys for around $400. “Yes, they are authentic and are straight from Microsoft. Yes, they will pass WGA. I order keys in very high amounts and get them for a good deal, I pass the good price I get on to you.”
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I suspect that Bill Wallace finds his Linux useable, rather than suable. If it is easy to sue, it could be expensive for him
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I am one such user who bought a “legit, authentic windows 7 ultimate key” from ebay.
it worked fine, installed and activated with no issues.
the issue came 3 months later when i downloaded XP mode to run older software that windows 7 would not run. As a consequence of being allowed to download xp mode, i was ‘forced’ to download WGA and run it… next thing i know i am being told that my windows 7 is no longer activated and i must get a new key… confused i tried to re-activate and was told the key was blocked.
so, i am now without a ‘legit’ version of windows due to Microsoft’s validation system.
so, was I running a counterfeit version of windows 7 for the past 3 months, or has Microsoft decided that my “authentic, genuine and fully activate-able key” is no longer that… and am I entitled to know why they believe that to be…?
i sold my vista ultimate for $20, with its original key. The new owner has had no problems. I was told by my eBay seller that the keys were from copies of windows 7 that were supplied with new computers but that the office were using windows xp on them instead… the cheap price i paid ($26) was because it was for the key only and not the disk, which i already have from another laptop that came with windows 7…
so, who’s frauding who?
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Have you contacted Microsoft. I got passed around to three different people and nobody wanted to tell me the truth. I talked to the Piracy team and they booted me to the Genuine advantage team. I asked does MS sell keys in bulk. They wouldn’t answer and suggested I talk to Pre-sales. They transfered me to pre-sales and that person was confused about my question. I explained the Ebay sellers and she wouldn’t answer my question only that they are working with Ebay regarding windows software on ebay. They she said I needed to talk to the Piracy team or Windows Genuine team.
Like I said in my other post, MS needs to protect the consumer by just coming out and saying they don’t sell keys in bulk to, you need a COA, you can use any disk to install the operating system as long as you have a Authentic COA, we don’t sell operating systems with built in KEYS (unless it is from a major computer manufacturer like HP, Dell, etc).
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