Macs & Random Computer Licence Checks?

[Xaixis]

Hey guys, it seems as if almost all my recent posts are coming out about my mac, sorry!

Anyways, a family friend just got adobe photoshop CS4 for his mac (he also switched and needed it for his profession) and when he came over he asked if I wanted it also. So of course I jumped on the opportunity.

Then I went to one of my friends house and told him about my amazing luck, but he said that Apple does random checks and checks computers if they have pirated software or software that isn't licensed to them. He also said if they catch you then they shut-down your computer remotely and fine you $50,000. (He says he got this information from his dad's friend who works at apple)
No I have looked all over the web and really haven't found much to support this. But what should I do, I mean I really want to keep the program obviously but I don't want to be fined out my ass.

Help?  :dead:

 

[Skyla Doragono]

Uh, well, if he actually BOUGHT the program (as I assume he would, considering it's for work), then it would be a licensed copy and you wouldn't have anything to worry about.

I don't see ANY company doing ANYTHING that retarded anyway, as that's a GROSS violation of a person's right to privacy.

 

[$t3v0]

If someone knocks on your door and puts a fine in your face for $50,000, say prove it then shut the door. If they have evidence, destroy your mac and pay a very lower cost to replace it.

FUCK THAT SHIT. Robbing cunts.

 

[candle]

If they tried that on me, I would sue them for searching without a warrant, unless of course it is stated clearly  that they might do that.

 

[$t3v0]

I'm sure they'll have some form of access. But that's not 100% clear in what he's said.

Like I said, shut the door, destroy your mac and say prove it. Saves you around $47,000 in the long run.

 

[e]

Keep a magnet in a lead box next to your computer/hard drives at all times. Or a degausser.

 

[$t3v0]

Problem solved!

 

[Glitchfinder]

As has been stated already, this would be a gross violation of personal privacy. The most they can do is use tracking cookies to see what sites you go to. (I have a friend who got a cease and desist letter listing a bunch of illegal downloads detected thru a tracking cookie) Anyway, If your friend legally bought the program, and hasn't used all of his licences, then you should have a legal licence anyway.

 

[aphadeon]

Does anyone still read what they sign today?
If you grant them access, which you are agreeing to in your Mac OS Installation, then they don't need a warrant.  You've already opened the door, and invited them in for a cup of tea.

The truth of it is this simple:
If you have to ask us these questions, you obviously aren't ready to play this game.  Just buy a license.
Besides, I'm pretty sure talking about piracy here is against the rules (though forgive me if I'm wrong.)

 

[Skyla Doragono]

Uh, talking about it isn't against the rules.  This isn't back in the days of the old staff.  :|

ENCOURAGING and PROVIDING LINKS to sites that support software piracy is, but we're not going to fry your ass for talking about it. :|

 

[Venetia]

Hmm, well lemme shed some light on some things I saw stated here.

- "It's a licensed copy so youre ok"
No, it's his FRIEND'S licensed copy. It's only 1 license, meaning it can only be installed on one machine.

- "If they [cops?] come, degauss/ruin your machine"
First, (though it CAN be a criminal charge) it'd likely be handled like a civil matter. Meaning, you'd get a court summons and a lawsuit either in the mail or handed to you. No feds busting through the door.
Second, if Apple found these files on your computer, you think they wouldn't log it? Of course you'd destroy your hard drive. But they would still have evidence.

- "They need a warrant lol"
No, they're not busting into your property, they're navigating a device you own, per an agreement you signed to use the operating system (reason #8764164737619376417638 I avoid Macs).



THE SAFE ANSWER
Buy your own license and uninstall all illegal software.

THE REALISTIC ANSWER
It's very likely nothing would ever happen to you. They target people who frequently use P2P software, like LimeWire or Kazaa or whatever, or who may have loads of cookies to sites that harbor illegal software (Piratebay, torrent sites, etc), and people who own torrent software.
So long as you don't meet those requirements, it's extremely unlikely anything will ever happen to you.
Furthermore, if you can help it, never register the software online, or if you MUST, never give your your correct address, phone number, or name. Avoid automatic updates, too.
But don't be too stressed.



So ... You know, follow the Safe Answer ... *wink wink nudge nudge*

 

[___]

Destroying your hard drive if you're being arrested on piracy charges (or other computer crime) just lands you with destruction of evidence charges and obstruction of justice on top of whatever else you're already charged with, fyi. Also, private companies don't need warrants to gather personal information, they need a contractual obligation.

I don't know where this rumor about Apple monitoring your system usage and gathering personal information about you comes from but I can almost 100% guarantee you it's nonsense. If anyone in this thread wants to provide a solid link or at least a copy of the relevant portion of the EULA to prove otherwise, go for it. Short of that though I call bullshit.

Don't be paranoid, the fuzz isn't watching you (unless of course it is). Apple stands to gain nothing from turning over its customers for software piracy - it would cost them a huge, huge amount of money to gather, store, and process the information you're talking about, and it would cost them a paying customer too (because you didn't steal your Mac too, did you?)  You have no idea what kind of bandwidth you're talking about, let alone interconnectivity with every software vendor they could provide this service to, and the greater security risks inherent in pulling off a scheme like this. For instance, if I was a black-hat hacker, and I knew that Apple was constantly communicating with every Apple computer to check licensing information on all running software, what would that be to me? That's right, a huge, easy to access, centralized resource for all the licensing information I could possibly desire. Just write one virus that either infects Mac computers and hijacks that stream of information or crack a single backbone router and insert a tiny bit of code to serialize and bounce all the information transmitted using that protocol back to an anonymous storage site.

Besides that risk, it's incredibly easy to defeat "phone home" schemes. Many people have firewall routers that would block these transmissions by default in the first place, but even if you don't have such a device it's very easy to either use a software firewall to block them, or in the case that you somehow need the communication open to use your software, you can write a proxy that redirects the transmissions to a piece of software on your local PC which in turn sends back fake auth responses. Most cracks for software that use phone home schemes do one of these two things, but the scheme is impractical because it demands that everyone using the software be online at all times while they want to use it, which is an unreasonable burden.

Short answer: your friend is a douchebag.

 

[Tohsaka]

They don't monitor anything- At least, if they do, it's anonymous. Now, since you registered to a certain serial (computer's serial), if someone goes up to Apple and says "X is pirating our products, his serial is [sdgds]" Apple can track them.

Of course, as I recall, it's CS4 and not Apple that runs the random checks, and only when you do software updates.

 

[___]

Yeah Adobe products do license checks on updates, but they're not all that successful.

 

[Xaixis]

@Jol, like how successful? Should I or someone in a similar predicament be worried? And if so I consider that an invasion of privacy, would there be a way to block that port without affecting my daily workflow? Or would that be a bad thing to do?

Anyways, to the rest, thanks so much for your help guys, you never fail me xD. Thanks for helping me get situated with my new mac, you probably will hear more of me later x.x -- I will try to be more active on the site though so I'm not an answer-whore... or something, but I'm really busy with schoolwork and stuff and you guys are helping me work through some of my minor problems.

So thanks again guys!

 

[Glitchfinder]

@Jol, like how successful? Should I or someone in a similar predicament be worried? And if so I consider that an invasion of privacy, would there be a way to block that port without affecting my daily workflow? Or would that be a bad thing to do?

Anyways, to the rest, thanks so much for your help guys, you never fail me xD. Thanks for helping me get situated with my new mac, you probably will hear more of me later x.x -- I will try to be more active on the site though so I'm not an answer-whore... or something, but I'm really busy with schoolwork and stuff and you guys are helping me work through some of my minor problems.

So thanks again guys!

Actually, I have a friend who pirated the entire adobe CS4 suite (Against my advice), and Adobe's liscense checks turned up good when he updated it. Go figure. On the other hand, Microsoft is currently beta testing a new portion of software that is essentially "official" adware. Basically, after a specific update sometime in the near future, if you have a pirated copy of Office, you will get a warning that you have a pirated copy, and occasionally will get an ad popping up to try to get you to buy the official version.

 

[___]

It's costly and time consuming to prosecute people for piracy and the payoff is rarely worthwhile. Typically software protection will simply disable your copy (or do like above and annoy you to death). The simple thing to do is just not update, or wait for a cracked updater, or of course buy the software but Creative Suite is a little outside the price range for your average hobbyist.

I can't really tell you where and how to get around a specific kind of copy protection, whether for lack of knowledge or because it's against the board rules, but Google is always handy.

 

[Xilef]

Apple does random checks and checks computers if they have pirated software or software that isn't licensed to them. He also said if they catch you then they shut-down your computer remotely and fine you $50,000. (He says he got this information from his dad's friend who works at apple)

That is complete bullcrap.

I was told before Windows Vista's release that Vista automatically checks for pirated stuff and uninstalls it automatically, that was also bullcrap.

 

[Zeriab]

Why would Mac care about whether or not you have an illegal CS installed?
It's not like you are breaking their copyright or anything. I am not sure that Mac would be able to sue since you offend Adobe, not Mac. It doesn't make sense.

The case of Microsoft is different because both the OS and office system are from the same company rather than two different companies.

 

[Tohsaka]

Well, not at all- Since I believe he is discussing Office:mac, so it's two different.
Apple doesn't really care, unless it's iWork/iLife/Logic Pro/Final Cut...etc

Might add that, as long as you don't register your OS Install, they don't track it at all- Added in to the factor that they have no anti-piracy protection on their OS. Don't Steal Mac OS X.kext more applies towards non-Apple hardware, since it contains a poem that's in cipher.