Can one get sued for writing theses with a counterfeit copy MS Word?

[sjwatanabe]

I ought to put this in the off-topic subforum but it said "non tech-related content only please!". I guess this is tech related 'cause MS Word. I'm fairly new here so I hope I did this right. lol

 

So I overheard the conversation between one of my classmates and her research adviser. The professor told her to make sure she's using a legitimate copy of MS Word or she and her partner could be sued (for whatever reason; software counterfeiting, maybe?)

 

I've been wondering, and I know its a little bit of a no-brainer but, can that really happen? Who's gonna check if you have a legitimate copy of MS Word, the NSA?

[Excon]

Yea thats not going to happen

[Deletive]

I think its just a way for the professor to make them go to the book store and invest in microsoft word... 

Microsoft needs to not make us pay for word... it's such crap  

[WolfDeville]

Load of crap, they won't sue you just for that.... You can just block it in the firewall and/or run it from another drive and there is no way they'll know if it is legitimate or not.

[LogicalDrm]

The software doesn't leave any markings on the file. So there's little to no way of telling what kind of software it was used to make. Besides that, converting with free software like Libreoffice is easy to do. Ofc it depends on laws per country, but in here it isn't against the law to use pirate copies. Selling, making and sharing them is. So basicly if you have accidentally got pirate version, you won't get sued because of that mistake.

 

As for why they might scare people... there are many reasons. In here the main would be plagiarism issue which can be seen as same thing in some eyes. But in any good Uni/college this shouldn't be issue as they always have legimate versions on their machines. So why not using them?

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Any particular reason why you can't use LibreOffice instead?

[sjwatanabe]

I'm well aware of the freeware and the legit copies unis have. As I've said I just overheard this conversation and doesn't really apply to myself, but got so interested in the possibility of having such a thing happen. Turns out there are none. Anyway guys I think we have an unanimous answer now. Thank you all for your replies, well appreciated.

[RH00D]

This would never happen. Its "wrong" but Microsoft really doesn't care if regular people pirate their software. I'm sure Microsoft would rather you pirate Word and use it than not pirate Word and use a competitor's software.

 

They do care about actual businesses that make a profit off of selling counterfeit Microsoft software though.

[Bsmith]

ehmm whut? no, why? what the hell.. altough selling counterfeit copies is something else, but for writing something on a illegal copy and then printing and selling it should be fine as long it aint plagiarism.

[vlado88]

If its for personal use, then no, its illegal but no one cares. If your company uses it however... its still unlikely but you might get sued.

 

I have a friend that fixes computers, he has some advertisement, business card and stuff. He always installs pirated copy of windows on his clients PC's, but that is because no one in my country ever pays for OS. He did get in trouble one time for doing that, had to pay around 1000$ fine.

[StingBull]

I classify Microsoft Office as a kind of software where individuals are not expected to actually buy it. I have never heard of anyone getting sued because of pirating Word, only corporations would be sued for that.

Check what you need, though. You may not need Word at all. Besides free alternatives like Libreoffice there are also Microsoft Office online and Google docs. Personally I don't use Word because Office online is enough to cover my needs.

[ShadowCaptain]

Yeah depends on your countries laws

 

Will they check? Doubt it, will you get caught? doubt it

 

but if you DO get caught you can face a hefty fine

[Midnight]

Checking for legitimate copy of MS Word? lol

[Opcode]

Just write it in LibreOffice, done deal.