14 DAY TRIAL // An army base belonging to the United States has reportedly been using unlicensed Windows 7 copies on its computer.
I enjoy irony as much as the next person, but this is rich. As much as the American government fights against piracy of all kinds, following the lobbying efforts of Hollywood studios in particular, it’s rather funny to find out that it actually has no problems pirating content on its own.
It wasn’t too long ago when it was revealed that the U.S. government was pirating military logistics software for which it was forced to pay a $50 million (€36.75 million) settlement.
Now, it looks like Windows 7 is on the list of things that the U.S. government pirated too. According to TorrentFreak, who cites a signal soldier serving in Qatar, the soldiers’ education center at his base has 18 computers running unlicensed copies of Windows 7.
The army man went as far as to provide images that prove his point – including Microsoft’s typical “this copy of Windows is not genuine.”
“I am not anti-government in any way, but I have been in the army a long time and I feel the army should be kept honest and accountable for what they do, especially when it is so public and a hot button issue in these times,” the soldier said.
The information comes a bit as a surprise since the Department of Defense has had a good working relationship with Microsoft, and its computers are usually licensed.
Earlier this year, the two parties went as far as signing a new contract that brought Windows 8 to the Army, Air Force and Defense Information Systems Agency for $617 million (€451 million).
It’s unlikely that Microsoft will take any legal measure against the U.S. government over such a small number of licenses, especially considering the size of the deal it has with the DoD.