Windows 7 House Party hosts pawning their goods on Ebay

The Windows 7 Party Host chat forums are abuzz with news that unscrupulous hosts are pawning off their “Steve Ballmer Signature Edition” of Windows 7 Ultimate and their Party Packs on Ebay.

Now, to be frank, it wasn’t hard to become a Windows 7 Party Host–there are at least three Icrontic members that we are aware of that have been selected to be hosts. It stands to reason that there are a few bad apples in every bunch and it’s really no surprise that these party packs have been showing up on the ‘tubes.

I'm sure the auction will be down soon, but here's a screen cap

The party pack contains things like Windows 7-branded playing cards, a jigsaw puzzle, napkins, balloons, and streamers among other things. There’s probably some sort of collector value attached to this stuff, but in the end it is most likely the lure of getting a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for less than retail and before it’s available in stores that will sell these packages.

There has been no official word from Microsoft on any potential repercussions for buying (or selling) these illicit copies of Windows 7, either from the House Party forums or emailed directly to party hosts.

Update: Windows 7 Party Hosts are up in arms about this issue on the official forums. They are, as a group, policing Ebay and reporting any and all occurrences of these auctions. It’s quite impressive to see a community rally around this issue so quickly and decisively.

33 Comments:

ardichoke

5 Oct '09, 10:26 pm
HOW DARE THEY? Don't they know that CD was made using the crystallized sweat wrung out from Ballmer's shirts? They could be worth MILLIONS some day! Just think of the possible cloning potential!
kennova

5 Oct '09, 10:37 pm
If you read the official rules of the sweepstakes it states nothing about whether or not you can sell it. What other contests provide prizes that you cannot sell? Ridiculous. If people want to sell it who cares!?!
Carl

5 Oct '09, 11:44 pm
Actually there is no sweepstakes for the Party Packs or the software these toads are trying to sell.And one last comment there also not prizes.
Cliff_Forster

5 Oct '09, 11:56 pm
I'm hosting a party because I am excited about Windows 7, I will not be selling the software.

This behavior is ridiculous. Whether its in the terms or not, its 100% unethical. Microsoft is giving the software away to a few that are enthusiastic enough to spread the word and promote it. There is supposed to be a mutual understanding between Microsoft and the host. Lets be real, the people selling their party packs are petty criminals.
Mary Evans

6 Oct '09, 12:24 am
Great Reply Cliff...Goes for me as well! Not to mention it is illegal. Are we in a society where you will back up someone who is doing something illegal?
'Ah, let the guy make a buck, who cares if he's stealing..doesn't matter to me, so what?'
Is that the attitude we want to promote in our society? Is that what you would teach your children? If so, we're all in trouble. It is illegal to sell Microsoft Software, period. You cannot sell MS software with out a liscense. Do people sell it? Yes. Probably, 75% that is sold is bootleg, Caveat Emptor. Your choice, buy from a reputable dealer or get what you pay for...

Not to mention there were thousands of HONEST people who would have liked to play by the rules and actually be honest and have the Launch party who didn't make it because of people like this.
AlexDeGruven

6 Oct '09, 1:04 am
Whether it's legal or not, it's pretty much guaranteed that it's against the terms in the package. That typically doesn't stop people from doing whatever they choose, anyway, though.

I'm looking forward to my free copy on Wednesday for 'The New Efficiency'. Probably catch a flick, too, since they're having it at a movie theater.
ardichoke

6 Oct '09, 1:32 am
Heck yeah Alex, I'm with you on the New Efficiency thing. Microsoft just called me today to confirm my enrollment too. I finally have an excuse to use some vacation time too. It should be a good day.
AlexDeGruven

6 Oct '09, 1:34 am

Quoting ardichoke

Heck yeah Alex, I'm with you on the New Efficiency thing. Microsoft just called me today to confirm my enrollment too. I finally have an excuse to use some vacation time too. It should be a good day.

Are you going to the 'Detroit' one in Walled Lake? Let me know, we'll have a mini EPIC. Ok, so maybe more like a micro-EPIC, but regardless.
ardichoke

6 Oct '09, 1:41 am
Yep, me and lunchb0x are both going to be there for the afternoon track. Only thing is I have to be back in Lansing by 7:30... I only took a half day off =/ I should have just taken the full day like lunchb0x did.
AlexDeGruven

6 Oct '09, 1:42 am
Heh, yeah... I just took the whole day. I'll be down there for the entire thing.
Dave

6 Oct '09, 2:15 am
I am hosting a party as well and it is a cool thing that MSFT is doing. SHAME ON THEM.
Eddy

6 Oct '09, 6:09 pm
I like how most of the comments are clearly from Microsoft employees.
Snarkasm

6 Oct '09, 6:16 pm
lol
primesuspect

6 Oct '09, 6:21 pm
... lol

Sweet troll, bro! I give it a 7/10
Thrax

6 Oct '09, 6:23 pm
Brian is feeling generous today.
leeg

6 Oct '09, 7:25 pm
"It is illegal to sell Microsoft Software, period."

What does this even mean? How can Best Buy sell windows? How can Microsoft sell windows? I'm confused.
Cliff_Forster

6 Oct '09, 8:20 pm

Quoting Eddy

I like how most of the comments are clearly from Microsoft employees.

Wow, Troll?

Okay, but I still feel compelled to rebuke.

Let it be known that I'm no Microsoft shill.

My opinion on Microsoft as it pertains to Windows 7.

Windows XP was a solid OS when it was released, Vista was a poorly conceived and timed upgrade that Microsoft learned some extraordinarily valuable lessons from, and is displaying that by not repeating the same errors with Windows 7. Windows 7 is literally one of the most exciting product launches in consumer electronics history because they have engaged the enthusiast consumers head on with free Beta testing, an open forum to discuss issues, and now the house party program. They said, hey Mr. and Ms. tech enthusiasts, help us make our product better. Whats not to love about that?

Now, Microsoft in a broad sense.

Positive

Windows 7 as stated above.

I love my Zune and the Zune pass, its largely overlooked as a consumer alternative to the Ipod. The Zune HD is an especially compelling piece of hardware.

I'm a PC because I want the freedom to select my own hardware and build my own system, something Apple clearly does not think users need to do.

You know, bing.com aint half bad, I'm still a google man, but bing does offer something in the way of search engine differentiation.

Negative.

The Xbox360 can bite me! Its the biggest quality control failure in consumer electronics history! I just had a sixth console red ring recently. We were a household with two 360's, Each one replaced multiple times, I'm fed up with it to the point that I won't give that division a penny of my cash ever again. Only way I'll ever play a 360 is if I win one in a giveaway, or if Microsoft throws me one as an apology for all my time and energy wasted on that product. Microsoft released a total lemon there, sure, they are fixing them, but they are doing it because they more or less have to.

$50 a year for an advertising laced service like Xbox Live is thievery. The content from the live arcade, the expansion packs and netflix is more than enough to support that service, not to mention all the advertising banners that are on it along with promotional uses to sell more of their own product. Live should be free to all 360 gamers.

As much as I dislike Xbox360, I despise Microsoft Office even more. Hundreds of dollars for a program to be a word processor and spreadsheet? Hey Microsoft, 1995 called, they want their buisness model back. Time for Microsoft to get with the times and charge something reasonable for that product. If your a home user and your not using OpenOffice by now, I don't know what you are waiting for. Heck, if your a buisness, and your not doing something to convert, I don't get you either.

Internet Explorer, has not been my day to day browser for years because frankly, there are better alternatives.

Though, admittedly it must be done... Constant software updates to patch security holes of every kind!!

Software DRM. The Windows genuine advantage program is rarely, but occasionally a pain in my rear. I had a recent mess where I had a friend that had a typical Dell OEM XP box, she needed an OS reinstall, but she did not have the Dell restore media. I tried to do it with a standard XP disk then called to activate using the valid code from the Dell machine, but they went on and on about how they could not do it because I did not use the official Dell installation media. Folks, I've never, ever stolen a piece of software, ever, period. It made me feel like I was some kind of petty crook, for all the support I give them, I deserved better. Bottom line is this, if I wanted to get around it, I could have, instead, I installed Ubuntu for her, and she now is an advocate for Linux.

Lastly, have you ever called Redmond for support? How do I say this politely, hmmmmm, oh to heck with it, There is nothing I would rather do less than calling Microsofts support group in Redmond. They redefine being put on hold.

In conclusion, my saying that selling your Windows 7 party pack on ebay is petty thievery obviously has nothing to do with my relationship with Microsoft. I don't work for them and to my knowledge none of the Icrontic forum regulars do.

I'll say it again, if you get your party pack from Microsoft, turn around and sell it on ebay, you are a thief, simple as that.
Jay

7 Oct '09, 2:40 am
Honestly its not technically any more illegal to sell this piece of software than it is to sell a cd promo or anything else marked "not for resale". And if they really wanted the circumvent the rules they could offer it for free with the purchase of something else. In my case I am already running W7 ultimate as a Technet subscriber and I am getting a party copy.
Cliff_Forster

7 Oct '09, 3:30 am

Quoting Jay

Honestly its not technically any more illegal to sell this piece of software than it is to sell a cd promo or anything else marked "not for resale". And if they really wanted the circumvent the rules they could offer it for free with the purchase of something else. In my case I am already running W7 ultimate as a Technet subscriber and I am getting a party copy.

Forget legality for a moment and question the raw ethics, the simple question of right and wrong.

Microsoft is giving the software away under the pretense that the people receiving it are going to install it, then hold a party to promote it. If your selling it on ebay, your not doing the right thing.
Jay

7 Oct '09, 10:24 pm
Well cliff in response to your point, If you already have it installed, you are going to have a party, and you have been promoting it since the day you installed the first beta client...Then is Microsoft still not getting what they "paid" for?
Jay

7 Oct '09, 10:37 pm
Also for the record I have no intention of selling the party that I am getting, however I whole heartedly defend the right of others to do so. The bottom line is in 10 years when you are cleaning out your basement and have a yard sale selling your copy for 10 cents you are no diffrent than the others. I say let others do whatever they want and you make sure you are being "ethical". Ethics is a very personal thing and the minute you try to impress your ethics on someone else you are doing the wrong thing. If Microsoft wishes to deal with the sellers then more power to them, but this is not your fight.
ken

10 Oct '09, 11:58 am
It may not be your fight but did you ever hear of community policing? we have the right to get involved when people are getting wronged if you see someone breaking into your neighbours house or stealing there car would you still say it's not your problem? you would want them to tell you if someone acted against you?
ardichoke

11 Oct '09, 8:17 am
Legal or not, this all comes down to a slap in Microsoft's face. They have gotten railed for years for being an anti-consumer, money grubbing corporation. With Windows 7 they have gone out of their way to try and change that image. I say this being one of the biggest anti-Microsoft people know, historically speaking. If these people are just going to take these copies that Microsoft gave them so that they would use the product, then turn around and sell them instead of actually using them, do you think that Microsoft will decide "this was a good idea, we should do it in the future to hype our OS." No, they are going to say "what's the point of giving away copies of the OS if these people are so ungrateful they won't even use it, oh well, no free copies next time."

I for one am very grateful for the free copy I got for attending one of "The New Efficiency" seminars. I'm quite enjoying it, I like it far more than Vista and this one actually feels like it's an improvement over XP unlike Vista. I'm encouraging the people that I know who use Windows to consider upgrading to 7, if not shortly after it's released at least once SP1 comes out. I will probably also purchase another copy for my laptop, marking the first Windows license I've ever bought (not including ones that came bundled with a computer).
chizow

11 Oct '09, 5:25 pm

Quoting Cliff_Forster

Forget legality for a moment and question the raw ethics, the simple question of right and wrong.

Microsoft is giving the software away under the pretense that the people receiving it are going to install it, then hold a party to promote it. If your selling it on ebay, your not doing the right thing.

I agree with you about it being wrong, but I think Microsoft surely built the question of morality and ethics into their expectations for this promotion. They probably figured some 20-30% of dead beat applicants wouldn't meet the promotion requirements and not hold a party or sell the free copy.

Similarly, you can expect about 10% of the general population to engage in criminal activity regardless of circumstances; in the internet age you're going to see a much higher occurrence of behavior that would be deemed unethical in the non-digital world, but as you can see in many of the justifications in this thread alone, these people see nothing wrong about what they're doing or know what they're doing is wrong and do it anyways.

Anyways, I didn't finalize my House Party confirmation because I was already a TN subscriber thinking someone else might make better use of the opportunity for a free Ultimate key. Kinda makes me wish I just took the offer and let the key rot, or give it away to an attendee instead.
primesuspect

11 Oct '09, 7:43 pm
Look: if you sell the disk on ebay, you are violating the license agreement. On the disk itself is printed "Not for resale".

Selling this puts it firmly in the gray market. It's the exact same as selling educational or promotional copies. They are NFR. You are not licensed to sell it. It's not really that complicated.
AlexDeGruven

12 Oct '09, 12:39 am

Quoting ardichoke

Legal or not, this all comes down to a slap in Microsoft's face. They have gotten railed for years for being an anti-consumer, money grubbing corporation. With Windows 7 they have gone out of their way to try and change that image. I say this being one of the biggest anti-Microsoft people know, historically speaking. If these people are just going to take these copies that Microsoft gave them so that they would use the product, then turn around and sell them instead of actually using them, do you think that Microsoft will decide "this was a good idea, we should do it in the future to hype our OS." No, they are going to say "what's the point of giving away copies of the OS if these people are so ungrateful they won't even use it, oh well, no free copies next time."

I for one am very grateful for the free copy I got for attending one of "The New Efficiency" seminars. I'm quite enjoying it, I like it far more than Vista and this one actually feels like it's an improvement over XP unlike Vista. I'm encouraging the people that I know who use Windows to consider upgrading to 7, if not shortly after it's released at least once SP1 comes out. I will probably also purchase another copy for my laptop, marking the first Windows license I've ever bought (not including ones that came bundled with a computer).

How did you like the afternoon session? The Developers track in the morning was actually quite good. The MultiTouch API is really simple, and totally awesome.

If you were there for the start of the afternoon Win7 presentation, my friend was the one that yelled out '7!' when he asked if anyone knew how many people worked on the project. That's just how cool we are.
ardichoke

12 Oct '09, 1:23 am
Haha... that was a brilliant quip. Myself and lunchb0x were sitting way in the back so as to lessen the temptation to troll the presenter. I found the presentation to be okay. There was some good information in there. I think they tried to cover too much in too short a time span though. I wish I could have gone to the developer portion but I work 2nd shift so I doubt I could have gotten off work at midnight and gotten up in time to make it to the developer portion. I also kind of wish I had gone to the Server 2008 R2 presentation instead of the Windows 7 presentation. It would have been more applicable to my current job.
AlexDeGruven

12 Oct '09, 1:25 am
Since I 'grew up' doing first-line HelpDesk, the support tools built into 7 were really cool to see. I'll be using the crap out of psr.exe once I get my in-laws loaded up with it. My FIL is notorious for "I dunno, it's just not working. It worked fine yesterday".
primesuspect

12 Oct '09, 2:33 am
Wow Nathan; I just read your post and discovered psr.exe; holy crap this is gonna be brilliant for when I need to help my dad. Thanks!
chizow

12 Oct '09, 2:38 am
Is that the LMGTFY function for Win 7 troubleshooting? Ya that's definitely a great addition.
AlexDeGruven

12 Oct '09, 12:49 pm

Quoting primesuspect

Wow Nathan; I just read your post and discovered psr.exe; holy crap this is gonna be brilliant for when I need to help my dad. Thanks!

Awesome stuff. That plus AppLocker (FIL is getting Ultimate primarily for AppLocker), and I shouldn't have to do much at all to keep that system up and running clean on 7.
jared

16 Oct '09, 1:19 pm
That was fun while it lasted?

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1460320
Aaron

23 Oct '09, 10:00 pm
I sold mine and I don't feel guilty about it. For one thing, I didn't realize it was included in the party pack until a week after I entered. I finally heard Leo Laporte talk about it, and had to verify it before I even knew it was true. I was in it for the napkins and the party supplies from the start, not the free copy of Win7.

Second, I have already paid for 3 copies of Win7, so MS has made plenty of money off me for this OS. I have 2 PCs at the moment, and plan to build a 3rd, so I don't really need a 4th copy. Mine was taken of eBay and CL, so I posted a flier on campus and sold it in a week.

I still have the other party supplies, and my nerdy buddies and I are still installing our Win7s this coming Sunday.

Windows 7 House Party hosts pawning their goods on Ebay

33 Comments:

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