Best Buy Busted

[Ice Czar]

Winternals (http://www.winternals.com/), the professional software side of Sysinternals Freeware (http://www.sysinternals.com/), home of such luminaries as Mark Russinovich (http://www.sysinternals.com/Blog/) famous for articles far and wide not to mention putting Sony BMG in the spotlight with its now infamous rootkit. Has apparently caught Best Buy's Geek Squad red handed with allegedly widespread cracked copies of it's ERD Commander (http://www.winternals.com/Products/ERDCommander/).

Source: Arstechnica (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060413-6596.html)

[Homeless]

best buy mass pirates!

[Ice Czar]

Mark Russinovich's articles have taught me almost everything I know about NTFS and the lions share of what I know about rootkits as well. Sysinternal's freeware is absolutely beloved by power users, the fur is going to fly over this one. I mean how much personal sympathy can you muster for Adobe? or Microsoft? But Winternals is an entirely different ball of wax, it would be like someone ripping off W1zzard if he was offering paidware.

[hoxlund]

i was hired on in the geeksquad

but now i work in regular computer sales on the floor

in my honost opinion i still know way more then anyone up at the precinct in my store when it comes to computers, technology in general

as far as piracy goes in our store, doesn't really exist

[Thermopylae_480]

in my honost opinion i still know way more then anyone up at the precinct in my store when it comes to computers, technology in general



Yeah. I find when I go to Best Buy the associates typically know much less than me about electronics, and especially computers. I tend to ignore them unless I need to know where something is. It's fun to ask them questions sometimes though, just to see the expression on their face :) . I may look the other way at individual piracy, but I really don't have any tolerance for companies of any size pirating software. They typically have so many computers it can be quite the big deal.

[ktr]

I work at Frys, in service department...we tech do carry burnt copies of ERD, but HQ does have legit licences for each store.

[Thermopylae_480]

Well, as long as you have legal rights to each copy in use than it doesn't matter if the copies are burnt or not. It makes since to give your employies backup copies to use. Thay way if they are lost or destroyed you don't lose anything.

[AMDCam]

Daww well I hate Geeksquad anyway. I think Colorado is just the least hobby-filled place on earth. First I try to apply there, noo it's only open to 18 and up. Okay that's cool but I know more than anyone out here! Then I go up to these guys and ask very simple questions, try and make simple small talk (hey they've got my dream job, they gotta know SOMETHING about computers right? I can't talk to anyone else around here about them, let's talk to these guys) like "what's the difference between a Sata and SataII cable?" "umm hold on..." I never found out, I did my own research and found the SATAII's just have a stronger boot so they don't fall off. I gotta admit, pretty complicated.

Plus my mom got angry at me one day cause I wasn't at the house to help here with the computer, so she calls Geek Squad (out of spite) and they're there for like 3 hours, charge something like $200 (I saw the receipt on the desk when I got back), and ALL SHE NEEDED FIXED was her damn power switch (I guess it slipped off the jumper connectors)!!! "oh, I see the positive and negative neutron-charged oxypropeliene built-in to this black and white looking copper-injected high-intensity lightning-based cable hookup is backwards in your mainframe system board because the transistor in sector 30 of the board seems to be supplying the current directly towards the positive end of your negatively connected "jumper" aka carbon-based plastic highly-classified security link that allows your cable to fit securely into your mainframe system board. Simple as pie, let me just get my welding torch and laptop out and...yeah, yeah it's definitely that.....okay please leave the room for about 3 hours, it's gonna be filled with toxic gasses from the polypropeliene mold ma'am. Thank you". REAAAAAL pro's

[zekrahminator]

Yeah. I find when I go to Best Buy the associates typically know much less than me about electronics, and especially computers. I tend to ignore them unless I need to know where something is. It's fun to ask them questions sometimes though, just to see the expression on their face :)
lol yeah best buy am teh n00bs :laugh:. And not only do they have no clue what they're doing, they overprice their services (I could do one of their $50 hard drive jobs in...15 minutes?) and point you to bad stuff in salesman-like manner. I asked once where the good video cards were and got pointed to the X1600's :roll:. I was actually asked to join the geek squad until they found out my age :ohwell:

PS- My opinion on pirating is that pirating should go no further then overpriced or unused games and maybe a partitioning utility/virus checker. Pirating OS's can get people to chase after you lol

[Ice Czar]

On January 25, Best Buy said that they were interested in a longer-term license, and they asked Winternals to come back with a new figure. In early February, however, they stopped negotiations suddenly and said that "they were no longer interested in pursuing a commercial license at that time."

Winternals was suspicious that the retailer had been tempted simply to crack the software and continue to use it free of charge, and they launched an investigation of their own in which they contacted various Geek Squad branches and requested computer repair services. When the technician showed up, he always had a copy of ERD Commander.

" In one instance, a Geek Squad employee was videoed repairing a customer's computer using a pirated copy of ERD Commander. Copy of ERD Commander used in the videotape isn't illegal, 'cracked' copy of ERD Commander. This version of ERD Commander is identifiable because the start up screen conspicuously displays the word 'Gold Member' in the licensee information field next to the Winternals logo.

Winternals has never granted a license to any person or entity named 'Gold Member.' Upon information and belief, Defendants have circumvented Winternals' copyright protection system on this copy of ERD Commander and other copies of The Winternals Software."


:rolleyes: multiple branches , a proposed multi-million dollar contract, and videotaped evidence
thay are going to pay through the nose

[wazzledoozle]

When I walk out of Best Buy I always feel as if I have lost something intellectually... :shadedshu