Just came back from our usual family weekend outing when I chanced upon a stall in one of the supermarkets here in the Philippines. It's a small shop selling pirated software. Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to scan the folders containing the available software.

Guess what I found? Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit).

I asked the lady manning the shop where they got the copy. The lady said she did not know since most of the CDs are delivered to the shop. She was honest enough to admit that she does not know anything about computers. She was put there just to sell.

When asked how much the pirated copy of Windows 7 was, and she gave a price of 70 pesos. I asked her if it was the complete copy, and she said yes. I wondered if she was as tech illiterate as she claimed to be. Otherwise, how would she know if this was a complete copy or not?

Anyway, I was about to leave the shop when the lady shouted: "Sir, I can give it to you at 50 pesos if you buy another CD for 50 pesos." I simply smiled at the her and said thank you, and left the shop without buying anything.

I am sure this CD is not unique here in the Philippines. Other countries surely have the bootleg copy as well. Pirated copies of Windows 7 are already out even before the full product becomes available, which makes me wonder just how much revenue Microsoft will lose for Windows 7 because of piracy.

{mosgoogle}

source: asia.cnet.com