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You can buy $10 legit keys. You can also get "free" keys from a student friend (academic license, ...) > Kinguin's merchants acquire the codes from wholesalers

You can buy $10 legit keys. You can also get "free" keys from a student friend (academic license, ...) > Kinguin's merchants acquire the codes from wholesalers who have surplus copies of Windows they don't need. "It's not a gray market. It would be like buying Adidas or Puma or Nike from a discounter, from TJ Maxx," Jordan said. "There are no legal issues with buying it from us. It's just another marketplace." https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/get-windows-10-free-or-cheap,5717.html https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/get-windows-10-free-or-...

mschuster91 3y ago
> You can buy $10 legit keys These keys may activate just fine, but they are not "legit" in any case. Most turn out to be acquired in illicit ways (MSDN licenses, ...), and a couple years ago here in Germany this led to massive amounts of criminal cases [1]. [1] https://www.borncity.com/blog/2021/03/05/betrug-mit-office-windows-lizenzkeys-tausende-verfahren-der-staatsanwaltschaft/ https://www.borncity.com/blog/2021/03/05/betrug-mit-office-w...
creatonez 3y ago
Microsoft themselves says otherwise -- that this practice is not allowed, and that there is no such thing as a secondary-market product key as large customers are supposed to discard unused product keys. These $10 keys frequently get revoked as Microsoft discovers them used outside of their intended setting. I don't know why a site that is usually reputable (tomsHardware) has gotten the facts wrong on this.
- dist-epoch 3y ago
  So why doesn't Microsoft sue that reseller into oblivion. It's been selling those keys for years without hiding itself. Legal discussion: > In the EU, software license resale is legal, even if explicitly forbidden by terms of any EULA or other contract imposed upon the parties. https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/50462/is-resale-of-windows-10-keys-legal https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/50462/is-resale-of-w...
  - creatonez 3y ago
    There's no legal issue, but the possibility of having your Windows license revoked for an EULA violation definitely falls under "not legit". And if you continue using it after it's revoked, that will be a legal issue.

mschuster91 3y ago

> You can buy $10 legit keys These keys may activate just fine, but they are not "legit" in any case. Most turn out to be acquired in illicit ways (MSDN licenses, ...), and a couple years ago here in Germany this led to massive amounts of criminal cases [1]. [1] https://www.borncity.com/blog/2021/03/05/betrug-mit-office-windows-lizenzkeys-tausende-verfahren-der-staatsanwaltschaft/ https://www.borncity.com/blog/2021/03/05/betrug-mit-office-w...

creatonez 3y ago

Microsoft themselves says otherwise -- that this practice is not allowed, and that there is no such thing as a secondary-market product key as large customers are supposed to discard unused product keys. These $10 keys frequently get revoked as Microsoft discovers them used outside of their intended setting. I don't know why a site that is usually reputable (tomsHardware) has gotten the facts wrong on this.

dist-epoch 3y ago
So why doesn't Microsoft sue that reseller into oblivion. It's been selling those keys for years without hiding itself. Legal discussion: > In the EU, software license resale is legal, even if explicitly forbidden by terms of any EULA or other contract imposed upon the parties. https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/50462/is-resale-of-windows-10-keys-legal https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/50462/is-resale-of-w...
- creatonez 3y ago
  There's no legal issue, but the possibility of having your Windows license revoked for an EULA violation definitely falls under "not legit". And if you continue using it after it's revoked, that will be a legal issue.