According to TorrentFreak, Microsoft is logging IP addresses to catch pirates of its Windows 7 operating system. In a Washington state court lawsuit, Microsoft is seeking damages from a suspected Verizon IP address that is accused of activating hundreds of Windows 7 installations.
Microsoft has come to expect this pirating practice from individuals, but stops short of accepting it when it comes to those who pirate Windows on a commercial scale. In the lawsuit, Microsoft is seeking damages from a specific Verizon IP address, 74.111.202.30. The specific wording of the lawsuit is as follows:
“As part of its cyberforensic methods, Microsoft analyzes product key activation data voluntarily provided by users when they activate Microsoft software, including the IP address from which a given product key is activated. Microsoft’s cyberforensics have identified hundreds of product key activations originating from IP address 74.111.202.30…which is presently assigned to Verizon Online LLC. These activations have characteristics that on information and belief, establish that Defendants are using the IP address to activate pirated software.”
Microsoft claims that the defendant or defendants activated hundreds of copies of Windows 7 using product keys that were not issued with a valid license, product keys improperly taken from Microsoft’s supply chain, or product keys used more times than their license allows. Microsoft is seeking an immediate injunction and damages from any profits from the hundreds of pirated copies of Windows 7. You can find a full copy of the lawsuit by Microsoft here. This Microsoft lawsuit is similar to another one filed in December 2014 against a AT&T account user.
