Here we go again, Microsoft is not going to give up on pirates:
Shortly after the beta of WinXP Service Pack 1 was released, locking out installations using leaked activation keys, a workaround with what appears to be a replacement key began circulating on IRC. We can therefore look forward to a repeat of the Windows Product Activation wars that were waged during the original XP beta, as crack and block alternate until the product actually ships. |
But can MS do anything about this?
Similarly, although it is conceivable that Microsoft could develop towards having some kind of unique identifier for each installation that stopped pirate copies using Windows Update. So maybe collecting IDs at Windows Update now is just part of the process of getting people used to what's coming. |
This article also mentions the beta of SP1 expiring prior to the SP1 that will be released later this year. As far as i could determine this is not the case using a legal copy of XP.
Source: The Register
