# Microsoft police state: Office 04 uses my AirPort to spy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 19, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290 "2006-09-19T17:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/1 "2006-09-19T17:18:46Z")
I installed Office 04 on 2 Macs: mine and my mom’s. Nothing says you can’t do that. So my mom comes over to work on a project we’re doing, and we’re both using the same AirPort for internet. Meanwhile, I’m using Excel and she tries to boot up Word. And gets a _ **fucking piece of shit error message** saying “Too many computers are using this copy of Office. Word will now shut down.”_ !!! _ **Fucking Micropenis pinkboy authoritarian police-state cuntbag asslicking electronically-surveilling shit-encrusted balls of asshair.** _ Is there anything I can do about this besides paying the assbastards another exorbitant license fee? I mean, _ **fuck.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/2 "2006-09-19T17:19:51Z")
Er, I mean…_ **fuck.** _ You know? ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/3 "2006-09-19T17:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I installed Office 04 on 2 Macs: mine and my mom’s. Nothing says you can’t do that. [/QUOTE] Actually, though rarely read, there is something that says you can’t do that. [QUOTE=Microsoft Office End User License Agreement] 1. GRANT OF LICENSE. Microsoft grants you the following rights provided that you comply with all terms and conditions of this EULA: 1.1 Installation and use. You may: (a) install and use a copy of the Software on one personal computer or other device; and (b) install an additional copy of the Software on a second, portable device for the exclusive use of the primary user of the first copy of the Software. [/quote] See [here](http://www.microsoft.com/office/eula/en.mspx) for the full text. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/4 "2006-09-19T17:27:01Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I installed Office 04 on 2 Macs: mine and my mom’s. Nothing says you can’t do that. [/QUOTE] Yeah, something does. Their license: > [@](#): > > 1.1 Installation and use. You may: > (a) install and use a copy of the Software on one personal computer or other device; and > (b) install an additional copy of the Software on a second, portable device for the exclusive use of the primary user of the first copy of the Software. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/5 "2006-09-19T17:28:57Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I installed Office 04 on 2 Macs: mine and my mom’s. Nothing says you can’t do that. [/QUOTE] Except for the license agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/6 "2006-09-19T17:32:04Z")
Um, disconnect from the AirPort temporarily, you dumbass. And, yeah, you’re breaking the license agreement. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/7 "2006-09-19T17:34:58Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Is there anything I can do about this besides paying the assbastards another exorbitant license fee? [/QUOTE] Legally? No. Illegally, probably, but you won’t find out on this board. Why not try OpenOffice? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/8 "2006-09-19T17:43:02Z")
Also, if you purchased your Mac within the last two or three years, you’ve got a quite decent word processor right on it, part iLife, which, while not as feature-laden as Word, still does the job for most purposes, and has good interoperability, such that the kinds of formatting tricks most people utilize (various fonts and text styles, changes in margins, indentation, justification, etc.) are preserved quite seamlessly when opening and editing the file in one or other suite. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/9 "2006-09-19T17:45:46Z")
> [@Asshole Fucking Corporatist Pig License Agreement](#): > > 1.1 Installation and use. You may: > (a) install and use a copy of the Software on one personal computer or other device; and > (b) install an additional copy of the Software on a second, portable device for the exclusive use of the primary user of the first copy of the Software. I read something else. I dunno what. Getting Started Guide or some such shit. It said you can install on a second device. Didn’t say jack about the exclusive use of the primary user. So I installed it. Fuck these people and their confiscatory weenie money-grubbing licensing agreements anyway. This sort of shit ought to be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/10 "2006-09-19T17:47:38Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Fuck these people and their confiscatory weenie money-grubbing licensing agreements anyway. This sort of shit ought to be illegal. [/QUOTE] WAAAAAAAAAH! I can’t buy one copy and intall it on all the computers I wanna! ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/11 "2006-09-19T17:49:19Z")
I thought yesterday was ‘Pirate Day’ on the SDMB. Darn Microsoft Calendar…! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/12 "2006-09-19T18:00:43Z")
WAAAAAAAH yourself, **Donor.** Jam it past your **Uvula.** I just want to be able to do with Office 04 what I did with past versions that didn’t pull this shit. Funny how the bigger the company gets, the more of your bucks it wants. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/13 "2006-09-19T18:01:06Z")
Use NeoOffice/J instead. In all fairness to MS, most commercial sw licenses from most vendors says you need to buy a separate seat to run it on different computers. A few allow you to install to a laptop and a desktop as long as you don’t run them concurrently. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/14 "2006-09-19T18:07:40Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Fuck these people and their confiscatory weenie money-grubbing licensing agreements anyway. This sort of shit ought to be illegal. [/QUOTE] Ohhh, so you’re an anarcho-syndicalist instead of an ignorant douchebag. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/15 "2006-09-19T18:26:12Z")
I appreciate your willingness to set the record straight. However, I am only an anarcho-whatsit in regards to giant cutthroat conglomerates. Your women and children are perfectly safe. Well, your children anyway. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/16 "2006-09-19T18:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Funny how the bigger the company gets, the more of your bucks it wants. [/QUOTE] As I understand it, smaller companies wish to get paid for their products as well. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/17 "2006-09-19T18:40:10Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I just want to be able to do with Office 04 what I did with past versions that didn’t pull this shit. Funny how the bigger the company gets, the more of your bucks it wants. [/QUOTE] WAAAAAAAAAH! I’ve always been able to cheat before and now The Man won’t let me! Boo fucking hoo. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/18 "2006-09-19T18:51:37Z")
I’d go with all those who recommend Open Office. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/19 "2006-09-19T19:07:44Z")
One license of Office, at most, allows you to run it on one computer at a time. This has always been Microsoft’s policy (although there are some special exceptions, like for the academic edition). They make the software, they get to set the rules under which you use it. This is not illegal, nor is it even unethical. Microsoft decided that one license of Office costs $X. If you want to run it on multiple computers, this means they want you to pay $2X. You may think that’s exorbitant (I do), but if so, you’re free to simply not use Office. No one’s forcing you - there are plenty of alternatives available. Really, if anyone’s in the wrong here, it’s you, for (apparently) having been using Office on multiple computers without paying for it for years. I dislike Microsoft quite a bit, but I respect their right to set the price of their software. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290/20 "2006-09-19T19:14:32Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] WAAAAAAAH yourself, **Donor.** Jam it past your **Uvula.** I just want to be able to do with Office 04 what I did with past versions that didn’t pull this shit. Funny how the bigger the company gets, the more of your bucks it wants. [/QUOTE] You’ve always cheated their licensing rules before, only now they can catch you at it. Yes, they are the embopdiment of Evil, all right. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-police-state-office-04-uses-my-airport-to-spy/373290.md?page=2)