What would you do in this case?

[davyvfr]

Hello,

Recently, I lost my Microsoft Product Key and no longer have it. The disk got scratched up too so it will not work either. I originally did not purchase the product, but obtained it from a good friend who works at a school. (Its unlimited licenses purchased by school district) Unfortunately, this good friend of mine left and no longer works at the public school district, so I can’t get the key again. Microsoft will not help as they will not contact the school to get the key, and I can’t get it either. Would I be doing wrong by downloading it illegally when I originally had the rights to use the product?

Edit: I forgot to mention my computer had to be restored, therefore loosing the Microsoft Product.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

Hello,

Recently, I lost my Microsoft Product Key and no longer have it. The disk got scratched up too so it will not work either. I originally did not purchase the product, but obtained it from a good friend who works at a school. (Its unlimited licenses purchased by school district) Unfortunately, this good friend of mine left and no longer works at the public school district, so I can’t get the key again. Microsoft will not help as they will not contact the school to get the key, and I can’t get it either. Would I be doing wrong by downloading it illegally when I originally had the rights to use the product?

Edit: I forgot to mention my computer had to be restored, therefore loosing the Microsoft Product.

Whether or not you originally had the rights to use the product is speculative. The public school district had a Site License for use by their people on their computers. I assume you are/were not affiliated with the school district; if this is the case then your friend acted illegally by giving it to you and you further acted illegally by using it.

To be legal, you must purchase your own copy.

 

[davyvfr]

Whether or not you originally had the rights to use the product is speculative. The public school district had a Site License for use by their people on their computers. I assume you are/were not affiliated with the school district; if this is the case then your friend acted illegally by giving it to you and you further acted illegally by using it.

To be legal, you must purchase your own copy.

I am not with the school district at all. However, thats not to say that people at companies give licenses out to friends and family. It happens all the time at my family’s workplace and I even got permission from the guy who purchased the licenses to use it (it was an antivirus software). As long as I didn’t share it illegally (like posting it on a torrent website), then I would be good.

In this specific case, the school district allowed others beside school staff/students to use the software.

 

[GEddie]

While it was arguably ok for you to use the software as provided to you; once you lost its functionality, that was it.

Put it this way, if this were 2000 and the software was on a CDROM that you then physically lost, using it again would require purchasing it. IMNAAHO, the morality is the same. Although you did not have to purchase it the first time, you would have to now.

ICXC NIKA

 

[seagal]

Your question, rephrased, could be “I had this thing but I [lost it / broke it / whatever], is it ok if I steal another one because I used to own one.” What do you think?

 

[Beryllos]

I am not with the school district at all. However, thats not to say that people at companies give licenses out to friends and family. It happens all the time at my family’s workplace and I even got permission from the guy who purchased the licenses to use it (it was an antivirus software). As long as I didn’t share it illegally (like posting it on a torrent website), then I would be good.

In this specific case, the school district allowed others beside school staff/students to use the software.

They mean well, they think it’s okay, but it’s not. They do not have the right to transfer the license to you.

There is a common misunderstanding about volume licenses. While the license may allow a large number, or even an unlimited number, of installations, there are clearly-defined restrictions of the computers (or devices) on which the software may be installed, the persons who may use the software, and the benefits from the use of the software.

Your use of this software was almost certainly illegal.

Microsoft has many different types of academic volume licenses. I haven’t read every one, but I have read a few, and they all state that the software is to be used by faculty, staff, or enrolled students, and only for educational- or work-related purposes.

I found this document which defines “Qualified Educational Users” for Microsoft academic volume licenses:
cick here to download the Microsoft Qualified Educational User Definition
This is not the complete Terms and Conditions; it only tells who would be eligible to use the software if his/her educational institution obtained a valid license.

So, to answer the question which is the title of your thread:
What would you do in this case?
I would either:

• purchase a retail license
• purchase a cheap used computer that comes with a license
• try Linux

Good luck, and God Bless.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

I am not with the school district at all. However, thats not to say that people at companies give licenses out to friends and family. It happens all the time at my family’s workplace and I even got permission from the guy who purchased the licenses to use it (it was an antivirus software). As long as I didn’t share it illegally (like posting it on a torrent website), then I would be good.

In this specific case, the school district allowed others beside school staff/students to use the software.

Did the Site License that Microsoft gave the school explicitly say it could be shared with users outside the school?

“It happens all the time and everybody does it” is not a legal justification for pirating software.

 

[davyvfr]

Did the Site License that Microsoft gave the school explicitly say it could be shared with users outside the school?

“It happens all the time and everybody does it” is not a legal justification for pirating software.

In the case I do find the access code in my house, I would need to re-buy the software? Also, I am not specifically sure about the Site License Agreement and I don’t think the school intended the software to be shared with friends or family; however, I was given permission from the schools distributer of the licenses to use it. The only way I could find that out is by contacting the school, which would be rather awkward and I highly doubt they would give me the key again.

 

[Gordon_Sims]

To rephrase things, “I had an illegal copy of this software, but that’s okay because lots of people do it. I lost my license key and scratched my install disk. Is it okay to steal it again since, like I said, lots of people do it?”

 

[davyvfr]

To rephrase things, “I had an illegal copy of this software, but that’s okay because lots of people do it. I lost my license key and scratched my install disk. Is it okay to steal it again since, like I said, lots of people do it?”

I get your point, but what if I were to find the license key in my house? Would I need to buy it again?

 

[Gordon_Sims]

I get your point, but what if I were to find the license key in my house? Would I need to buy it again?

It’s an illegally obtained license key. Whether your friend at the school told you you could have it or not, you aren’t a school employee and don’t fall under terms of the license. Look at it this way: Let’s say your friend was house-sitting for his neighbor and invited you over. You really liked the neighbor’s TV and your friend told you you could take it. A month later it breaks down. Would it be okay for you to go back and steal the neighbor’s new TV?

Regardless of whether you find the key to the software, you’re still stealing.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

In the case I do find the access code in my house, I would need to re-buy the software? Also, I am not specifically sure about the Site License Agreement and I don’t think the school intended the software to be shared with friends or family; however, I was given permission from the schools distributer of the licenses to use it. The only way I could find that out is by contacting the school, which would be rather awkward and I highly doubt they would give me the key again.

Listen, I am an Information Technology professional so I know what I’m talking about.

You may have been given permission by the distributor but unless the Site License specified that he could do so (I’m guessing it didn’t) then he was acting illegally and should not have given it to you in the first place,

Even if you do find the license key you are still in violation because you obtained the software illegally to begin with.

Bottom line: Unless you bought and paid for the software, you may not legally use it.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

To rephrase things, “I had an illegal copy of this software, but that’s okay because lots of people do it. I lost my license key and scratched my install disk. Is it okay to steal it again since, like I said, lots of people do it?”

^^^ This.