Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Accused of Cracking Down for Added Profit in the East

You have the right to remain unregistered. Please proceed to the nearest Free software repository with your hands behind your mouse.



Summary: News from New Zealand suggests that Microsoft has turned more aggressive against businesses that illegally use Microsoft software

DESPITE benefiting from counterfeiting, Microsoft keeps portraying itself as a victim. Had Microsoft really wanted to impede illegal copying, it would achieve this easily. But Microsoft publicly admitted on several occasions that it wished to give Windows away to many people, in order to increase its profits later on. It's a long-term investment. “They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade,” Bill Gates famously said. It's the same mentality of drug companies whose patents he is promoting at the moment (as an investor).



Anyway, Microsoft now denies that it has increased crackdowns on businesses in New Zealand, despite the fact that Microsoft is doing this in China. Can anyone believe the systematic liar called Microsoft? Its word contradicts the rest.

Microsoft has denied speculation that it is taking a more aggressive stance auditing Kiwi businesses that it suspects of using more Microsoft software than they have licences for.

Legal counsel Waldo Kuipers declined to comment on rumours that one large listed company had agreed to pay Microsoft $900,000 following an audit a year ago.


Microsoft software such as Windows is neither libre nor gratis. It's not only China where Microsoft has begun suing more businesses in attempt to "collect" (using Gates' own word). The propaganda and deception which Microsoft generates through funding of 'studies' needs to be ignored, including news articles like this one.

Windows profits decline over the years, so businesses should expect Microsoft to become more aggressive. They should move to GNU/Linux before Microsoft comes knocking or suing (to "collect"). ⬆

Recent Techrights' Posts

More Shutdowns at Microsoft, Hundreds of Workers Impacted Shortly
It's not the entire wave, just part of it
 
Linux is Not Controlled by Linus (Torvalds)
Torvalds has become "90% marketing hype"
The "No Pain No Gain" Expectations in Publishing
Sometimes truth hurts; but that does not mean it mustn't be told
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XIII - Censorship by All Means Available in a Continent So Far Away, as 'Secure' (Restricted, Restriction by Microsoft) Boot Has a Crisis of Legitimacy
it's about America controlling sites and computers everywhere
Links 24/10/2026: Oligarchs Already Buy US Elections, GAFAM Front Group "EFF" Speaks of "Vulnerability Apocalypse"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Automobile Differential Tire Movement, Samsung Washer Woe, and Slop Scraping
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 23, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 23, 2026
As Usual, Late on a Friday XBox (Microsoft) Releases Evidence of Its Demise
We covered several such Friday announcements earlier this year
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Break/Fix and OpenStreetMap
Links for the day
Links 23/10/2026: Slop "is Scaling Transnational Repression" and Infringement and DMCA Suits Against Suno/Anthropic (Plagiarism Blenders)
Links for the day
The Register MS: About 60 Mentions of "AI" in One Day Are Paid-for Spam (Sponsored Hype, Composed by the Companies Covered)
The Register MS is a dying site
Links 22/10/2026: MElon (Elon Musk) Election Interference and Perl/Raku Foundation by the Numbers
Links for the day
Techrights Audience Grew as a Function of the Intensity of Attacks on Its Existence
We try to publish fewer stories but better (not necessarily long but at least important) stories
TechRepublic is Becoming a Slopfarm
It seems like TechRepublic became LLM slop (maybe all of it, maybe only some of it for now)
Techrights is Not About GNU/Linux, Tux Machines Is
When we say "GNU/Linux" we emphasise the GNU
The World Needs Activists With Social Skills and Perseverance
An everyday activist makes life better for everybody, everywhere (not for personal gain or even credit)
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XII - Lawfare to Cover Up Microsoft's Restricted Boot Calamity (Microsoft as Authority Over Linux), Garrett Wants to Talk About Penises Instead
When lawsuits become a political weapon
Without Microsoft's Monopoly (and Monopoly Rents) the Inevitable Microsoft Mass Layoffs Carry on Endlessly
Microsoft Windows is not retaining the dominance it once had
IBM's Debt Grew About $2 Billion in 3 Months
The silent layoffs still seem to impact Red Hat
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 22, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 22, 2026
Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Solar MiniBBS, Building Major Tom, and Zig
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2026: Busan’s Celebrity Shark in Canal Again
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2026: "Software Developers Have Been Promoted Into Incompetence"
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XI - Losing Over a Million Pounds (Borrowed Money) to Try to Silence Critics of Restricted Boot With Microsoft-Controlled "Certificates"
Garrett is also very jealous of Daniel Pocock
Links 22/10/2026: eBay to Lay Off a Tenth of Staff (Again), Node.js and PHP Security Crises, Climate News
Links for the day
Red Hat Layoffs Still Going on This Week (Whilst IBM's Debt Grows in Spite of Mass Layoffs)
IBM is bluffing/cheating the shareholders again
IBM's Debt Continues to Increase While the Company Rapidly Shrinks
This is what a dying company looks like
Linux Kernel Needs Diversity and Diversity of Good Code, Not LLM Slop
Linux (and Linus) are kicking a can down the road
Microsoft Shrinks Every Year
Microsoft will try to spin or twist this as "efficiency"
Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Holiday Inn and Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 21, 2026