14 DAY TRIAL // Customizing Windows 10, disabling some of the features that come bundled with the OS, removing specific apps, and uninstalling some components are all things that so many users do after installing Microsoft’s operating system.
And yet, the software giant claims doing all of these are actually a DMCA violation, as weird as that may sound.
And the developer of Ninjutsu OS knows this best.
Specifically built with penetration testing in mind, the Ninjutsu Project is a customized version of Windows 10 that comes equipped with a very rich app arsenal, including security apps that are supposed to help researchers and experts perform various tests and security audits.
But despite being based on Windows 10, it still requires a license for Microsoft’s operating system, so essentially, Ninjutsu OS is a custom version of Windows 10 that allows users to pre-install a series of apps from the very beginning so that they don’t have to do it manually after installing the OS.
Download links taken down
Microsoft didn’t like this, so the project, which was hosted on GitHub, was hit with a DMCA complaint sent by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) on behalf of Microsoft. As noted by TF, the reasons in the complaint are interesting, to say the least.
Microsoft decided to take down the Ninjutsu OS links because it comes with features that allow users to “customize Windows 10 with powerful tweak and optimize,” but also to “disable many of the annoying features built into Windows.” Furthermore, this penetration testing project made it possible to “protect your privacy by tweak and customize Windows 10” and “remove/disable many Windows programs and services.” And last but not least, it facilitated the removal of “unwanted Windows components.”
Interestingly enough, the customization and privacy features that the DMCA complaint refers to are actually powered by other third-party apps, such as O&O ShutUp10, which is still available for download (it’s not hosted on GitHub though).
So right now, Ninjutsu OS is no longer available for download following the complaint, as the Microsoft-owned GitHub has already taken down the links for the OS images.