GO241SALE
Windows 10 Pro Professional Cd-Key (32/64 Bit)
Price: US $11.30 (AU $14.45) with code: GO241SALE
Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Plus (1 User)
Price: US $22.30 (AU$28.52) with 35% off code: GO241SALE2
Windows 10 Pro (32/64 Bit) US $11.30 (AU $14.45), Microsoft Office 2016 Pro (1 PC) US $22.30 (AU $28.52) with Code inside
188
Related Stores
closed Comments
These keys are genuine in that they’re generated by Microsoft. However, they’re volume licensing keys. So, imagine a big company where they have hundreds of PCs. This is a key that is generated for one of those, either that, or it’s a MSDN license key. Either way, selling these is a license breach. Legality of purchasing them, I don’t know. They’re not for resale, so perhaps whatever rules that apply with selling things that’s aren’t supposed to be sold are applied?
Not again…
Consensus seems to be they're of dubious origin, but they will work.
In this case, the best kind of dubious! :D
Howdy,
I deal with Microsoft licensing for work- we literally spend more on licensing than the price of an average family car. I've commented a bit on these sorts of deals a bit in the past too.
My TL;DR version:
-Legal? (as in, will the men in black vans bust down your door?)- There's probably no specific Australian law you are breaking (I'm not a lawyer though)
-Ethical?- All depends on your ethics I guess ;-) I'd personally lean towards it not being strictly ethical though (reasons to follow)
-'Legitimate' (ie are they real keys from Microsoft?)- Yes…and no. User 'no not me' explained it well. Legitimate keys, but not being sold/used in the way Microsoft says they should be.
Longer version:
Here's some relevant info relating to this sort of deal before:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/329059 (similar deal with lots of discussion)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/329108 (query I posted in site discussion, with a response from Scotty)From the query I posted above, here is a good example of the 'legitimacy' of these kind of sellers:
Just to add weight what I am trying to say:
This deal for Microsoft keys was active on here about a year ago (same one that I posted in the OP):
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/235103In that deal, the OP insisted that the product keys they were selling were legitimate. Here's a direct quote:
"Just to clear up, we are an Australian limited company, it would be highly illegal for us to sell anything other than the true product we're representing. We guarantee that exactly what we sell is the real thing. The penalties for doing anything else just aren't worth it!"
We're pretty open too, that if you're not 100% satisfied with the purchase, let us know and we'll give a 100% refund.
Fast forward to April 2017 and we have https://www.crn.com.au/news/microsoft-australia-smacks-resel…
"Online reseller Moonbox Software has been ordered to pay nearly $1 million in damages to Microsoft Australia for selling illegal software keys.
Moonbox sold more than 3600 pirated product keys for 17 different Microsoft products on its website, including Windows 10 and Office Home and Business. >Moonbox's website, along with a UK website, were shut down shortly after legal proceedings began.
The Federal Circuit Court of Australia ordered Moonbox to pay $957,895 in damages to Microsoft Australia, which was comprised of compensation for the >infringements and additional damages for the flagrancy of the offenses.
Moonbox's four directors were also permanently banned from representing themselves as lawful resellers of Microsoft software"
Is anyone still not convinced that these sellers are selling illegitimate products?
And finally, another re-post from my thread linked above:
There's a few issues I can see with these deals:
-As I've already posted elsewhere, Microsoft themselves do not offer product keys for sale in this way (despite the sellers claiming otherwise). From this link https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/howtotell/Software.aspx#Digi…
"With the exception of Product Key Cards distributed with Certificates of Authenticity (COA’s), Microsoft does not distribute products keys as standalone products. If you see a listing on an auction site, online classified ad, or other online page advertising product keys, it’s a good indication that these keys are likely stolen or counterfeit."
-The sellers of these keys are usually overseas, making it harder to get refunds etc if (when) the keys stop working
-The prices are under-cutting Australian businesses who are selling proper Microsoft licenses.
I'll probably be accused of being a do-gooder or some kind of shill for Microsoft. I am neither- I just want to make sure people understand exactly what they are buying with these 'deals' and what the risks are. Sometimes part of bargain-hunting can involve a bit of risk-taking though:
-Will Officeworks pricematch this?
-Will my geekbuying order ever arrive?
-Will my wife appreciate the 25 $1 cree torches I just ordered?:-)
Hope that is useful to someone.
There's no criminal law but it's certainly a breach of copyright law to use software for which you don't have a valid license. In this case, the license will not be valid unless you are eligible under whichever BizSpark/MSDN/VL agreement these were ripped off from. It's not uncommon for businesses to be sued for using unlicensed software and individuals are no different. As for the realistic chance of being sued as an individual… I think it's somewhere very, very close to zero percent ;)
Again, I'm no lawyer. But I suspect that the main people who will be chased down by Microsoft / the copyright cops / whoever, is going to be the sellers involved.
In the example I posted about 'Moonbox Software' they were a pretty easy target for this as they had an Australian presence. Most of the key sellers are generally based in places where (I assume?) it is a bit more difficult for the relevant authorities to catch up with them (the seller in this current deal is from HK).
What would be interesting, is if any of the Ozbargainers who purchased keys from the Moonbox guys can comment on whether or not their keys are still working.
Plenty of businesses using unlicensed software getting caught every year too. They probably just crack their software rather than buying dodgy keys though:
https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/616703/aussie-businesses-h…
Thanks for going to the trouble of writing your comment.
Not legitimate in context of the terms and conditions of sale
So when the BizSpark/MSDN accounts are deactivated for fraud do the keys remain active? ;)
Here comes the controversy
Yep, got the popcorn ready.
I'll give the people what they want.
yep the armchair lawyers …..
Lol, how genuine are they?????
Where are these from??? More details please.
Where are these from???
The keys were found inside a locked filing cabinet (keys missing) from a second-hand place out in Fyshwick, ACT.
Note: Any more "details" and I'll have to kill ya.
Where did these go? Where did these come from, Cotton eyed joe
Where did these come from
Because you asked, there's a guy-in-dark-suit-dark-glasses-no-sense-of-humour sitting in your lounge room. Go ask him. But first, tell your family you're not coming back.
Should have sold it to Russians :P
You can get cheaper oem codes off eBay, and some websites even have free ones . Will do the activations just like this. Don't see the deal here.
I am also keen to know if this is legit/legal compared to the Upgrade offered by Microsoft which is around $170.
oem is for system builders eg you build your own pc and do your own support …… retail keys cost more and you can call microsoft for support ,
not sure what they mean about support.
i’ve always bought oem as support you have to google yourself anyway.
There is zero chance this is an OEM key at this price.
"I am also keen to know if this is legit/legal compared to the Upgrade offered by Microsoft which is around $170."
I think you just answered your own question…
No deal, you can already get the same level of legitimacy from eBay sellers for cheaper and you don't have to sign up for another unknown site.
Link please?? I'm on a monthly subscription over here
It you're not going to pay Microsoft for a legit key, don't pay anyone. Go to your favorite pirate site and download an activation program. They work fine, but I'll frown at you
Fake key will most likely continue working forever.
Key generator may contain malware which may compromise your PC.
I would recommend paying for the first option compared to the second option.
I'd probably feel better doing it through reddit microsoftsoftwareswap
They've got a good reputation as in no issues.
How is this different from dealing with a bunch of randoms?
Their keys are just as dodgy. Already requested refund via paypal since the seller kept giving me 'replacement' keys that all didn't work. Probably because I didn't download from their dodgy mega.nz link, but instead the official Microsoft website
I've had 3 keys from multiple sources and not a single one of them has been disabled. And I used official MS download.
My experience differs. Yet I got a LEGITIMATE key from my university and that worked instantly. Hmm
@shot: Well of course you would expect a legitimate key to work instantly. If it didn't, it wouldn't be legitimate would it?
As for the "non-legit" key, it depends where you got it from.
One of mine was from Reddit when W10 just launched, and it's still going strong. I think I bought a W7 key and used the free upgrade to W10. The other 2 keys were W10 keys, one I think was from cdkeys and I can't remember the other, maybe ebay. No problems yet.
Not all reddit keys will be the same either. Some sellers might be dodgier than others. You probably got a dodgy one.
@lostn: Yeah I probably used a dodgy seller, especially since they were so unhesitant to give me replacements instead of troubleshoot
Or pirate it. It's literally just as legitimate but at least no-one gets paid instead of some lowlife.
I'm sure it works great for the few weeks you have it until the code gets deactivated for fraud.
microsoft don’t deactivate codes ….. they check if valid and activate … it’s automated and algorithm based ……. if you upgraded hardware you ring microsoft and they generate new code as oem let’s are assigned to the pc . they do this over the phone.
No offence, but you don't know what you're talking about. These would be volume licensing keys, not OEM, so of course they could be deactivated…that's kind the entire point of them. IT departments activate and deactivate them all the time as staff and hardware change. MS do the same when they find out they are being used not in line with the licensing.
how can you be sure they are enterprise license keys …. volume keys for an organisation ….
most of the pcs we get in government already come with a key for windows 10 from the manufacturer eg hp dell lenovo .which is an oem key … we don’t actually do enterprise / volume keys anymore since office365 and windows 10 ….. not the old days of windows 7,8 and buying support.
we don’t buy windows 10 and try and load onto a mixture of hardware platforms, pcs are delivered with generic oem licenses. as with gov only pricing is central, what departments buy and from whole is their choice, and there is no one SOE, each department has their own. activates when you boot up the PC first time and that’s , it never gets deactivated, when eol life machine is formatted and sent to be sold with the license still attached to the machine.
microsoft’s move to the cloud with windows 10 and office 365 has changed a lot of things as has their home, pro and entrerprise tiers, what features you get and users it targeted at.
Because even OEM keys still cost $90+. These deals are always BizSpark/MSDN/VL keys. And they certainly do deactivate these types of keys. It's not uncommon at all.
I need a code like tonight where would be the best place to get one?
Microsoft.
Just got one on eBay $15 Windows pro
Hope the seller had a good reputation…
If you're willing to pay a bit more, probably the reddit microsoft swap group mentioned above.
A dictionary could help. Codes like tonight include tight, night, nigh, etc.
That's OEM as well… For $90
Install workout a code and validate with kms. The fact that people will pay for a non legit Windows is mind boggling.
You're basically paying someone to pirate for you.
I got 5 copies of Windows 10 free from my uni account lol.
Care to share? :)
I'll probably try sell them somewhere since I'm unemployed atm so every dollar counts (hence why I'm on OzB)
Share some good karma !!
OzBargain is better for emptying wallets than filling.
@FriendlyPhillip: True but I mainly use it to search for deals on things I was thinking of purchasing anyway.
@skinny: I gave away heaps of those Ultra Violet SN's to heaps of ppl on Ozbargain share the love. Still waiting on the Karma back like winning the lottery lol
I paid $30 for win 10 pro oem from microsoft as i do their training programs :)
Bought a similar $10 key for the mother in law's budget build last year, aside from having to change the keyboard language from Urdu to English all has been good. I would've definitely heard about any problems :p
From the above site? Goodoffer24?
nope from play asia, not sure if they still have them stocked any more though
Yeap same here for a friends build 1.5 years and still good.
good deals
Be aware - in the past I have found the sellers advise that you must activate in 48 hours, that means you wont be able to use on a different pc sometime down the track.
oem licenes are allocated to PC, when you change motherboard or CPU and boot up, it quotes a code and asks you to ring Microsoft. you give them the code, tell them it's a repair and you get a new code from …. very long number to read to them and get back.
If you sell the PC, you remove it from your Microsoft account, microsoft keep track of the licenses associated with your account, you can look at on your Microsoft account, nothing sinister it's to make re-installs easier and incase PC is stolen, their needs to buy their own copy of Windows 10 and install it.
I sold a laptop and had to remove from my Microsoft account so that after reinstall it comes up clean with the "new user follow bouncing ball install".
I recently did a rebuild and didn't get any such message. I don't even remember/know where my original Windows key was from, but it wasn't a Win10 key. Now I'm thinking I'll get one of these cheapies.
Yeah, I'm a system builder and sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. You see, the ESD keys, IF you log in with a MICROSOFT account (not local account) it ties to your MICROSOFT account, not the hardware ID of the PC.
I've also had to replace MB/HDD etc on customer's PCs in the past and the ones with LOCAL accounts are a pain in the butt, you indeed have to ring Microsoft and explain the repair. The ones with a MICROSOFT account seem to just stay activated.
To circumvent it, IF the PC is in any way bootable, you simply "change" to a Microsoft account first before performing any work. The digital license attaches to the new Microsoft account, you do the repair, and when you boot up Windows is still activated.
NOW
I have no idea about these dodgy keys, but I can confirm that's how it works with genuine ESD keys.
YMMV
under 5 dollarydoos on ebay
I have seen people selling windows and office license keys on gumtree, facebook and other sites for really cheap. Apparently most of these keys are leaked corporate keys that get blacklisted once Microsoft is informed. How these people get hold of the keys in the first place is anyone's guess.
they don't turn Win10 off once activated.
Imagine the Alfred hospital gets it wrong and a life support system turns off, or the triage system used to check in patients ………..
once activated it stays activated unless the hardware changes then it needs to be re-active and that is done before PCs are out back into production.Hmm, deactivate the PC that controls nuclear power plant,
it's new machines that cant be activated if code is already in use.
Windows 10 support stops Windows 10 Oct. 13, 2020 for mainstream (home type users) and 2025 for extended support (corporates that pay extra).
So in 3 years Microsoft gets a chance start again with either keys, or subscriptions, or whatever their new model is at the time.
No deal. Can easily find cheaper elsewhere, legalities aside.
Agreed.
Not legitimate use of these keys. Negged.
Can someone chime in on the legality of these keys and whether it would be ethical to purchase them?
I've seen good deals on Windows keys before but they're always carried with some argument based on the methods of attaining them.