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Apple drops anti-piracy measures from iWork '09

updated 09:25 am EST, Tue January 20, 2009

iWork drops serial numbers

Apple has removed a common security measure from its iWork '09 office suite, according to an official support document. Mirroring a decision taken with iLife, which is bundled with new Macs as well as sold separately, Apple has eliminated the need to enter a serial number when installing a retail copy of iWork '09. A number is still needed to unlock trial versions of iWork, unless users install a retail copy over top.

It is uncertain why Apple would remove anti-piracy measures from iWork, as the suite is entirely optional and likely to be pirated. The combined iLife and iWork decisions may indicate that Apple feels serial numbers are no longer effective, however, or that they are simply an unnecessary hassle when copies of both suites may often be pre-installed on Macs.

by MacNN Staff

(29)

TAGS :

security, software, piracy, Apple

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Propofol
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2002

+13

01/20, 09:53am | report spam | close Reply |
Piracy

They probably want people to pirate it so their user share goes up... Once people know how great iWork is, they'll buy more Macs to be able to use the software. A loss leader...

Comment buried. Show

zaghahzag
Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Aug 2006

-13

01/20, 09:57am | report spam | (1 reply) close Reply |
yeah

they want it pirated. they don't care if you install using a copy your friend bought. they need as big an installed base as they can get for iwork or else they'll never sell it.

plus, they give it away with new macs, so they're already killing most of their sales.

bjojade
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2007

+5

01/20, 09:59am | report spam | close Reply |
There is a plan.

Maybe they WANT a little piracy. Sure, they may not get as many sales right now, but the secret to allowing limited piracy is that it gets their software in the hands of more users. Once they hit critical mass, then they can start enforcing payment.

Microsoft did the same thing with their office suite. They turned their heads as thousands of businesses and schools pirated their software. Once they were entrenched in using it, then they came knocking telling them to pay up or else. Let's hope this isn't Apple's plan.

Paul Huang
Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Sep 1999

0

01/20, 10:09am | report spam | close Reply |
10.5.6 requirement

When the application requires Intel and 10.5.6, the removal may stimulate sales of OS and new system. Well, for that matter, it may stimulate hardware piracy (non-Mac Intel) and OS piracy.

sigh.

Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 1999

+1

01/20, 10:52am | report spam | (2 replies) close Reply |
tracking

They do track the MAC addresses and IP's of the machines that install a copy however. Maybe they actually just want to know how the product is used. If they used a serial number they would get skewed results, this way they know exactly how many machines it ended up being installed on and the geographic spacing as well. Could be useful info.

Comment buried. Show

Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 1999

-16

01/20, 10:55am | report spam | close Reply |
Insignificant

They should spend less time and resources coming up with stupid decisions like these, and more time on updating the stinkin' Mac Mini and iMacs.

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

-8

01/20, 10:56am | report spam | close Reply |
10.5.6

iWork doesn't require 10.5.6. iLife does. iWork will operate under 10.4.11 as well.

And this has little to do with 'wanting' piracy. What they had previously was as useless as having no protections, since all it did was check your current network (if it did that - I don't know). At least they make it less annoying to install (nothing like trying to retype a freakin' large serial number to annoy a customer to no end - esp. when it is printed in a small font that makes it hard to distinguish certain numbers and letters).

Comment buried. Show

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

-15

01/20, 10:58am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: insignificant

Maybe they made this decision to pull off all the people responsible for serial number generation and customer support and move them over to the 'mac mini updated design team'.

So it isn't as insignificant as it might seem.

Then again, I'm sure someone will try to use logic and explain that those making this decision would have no bearing on those making decisions on the mini, and thus stop your complaining, but that's just logic. Who needs that.

jondesu
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2008

+11

01/20, 11:04am | report spam | close Reply |
No evidence of tracking

There's no evidence Apple is tracking anything about who is installing this software, and no real reason for them to do so actually. I think it's a good idea, most anti-piracy measures are easily bypassed by those who will steal software, and just provide an annoyance for those who don't.

ZinkDifferent
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2005

-9

01/20, 11:06am | report spam | close Reply |
Na�vet�

"It is uncertain why Apple would remove anti-piracy measures from iWork"
----

Na�vet� - how cute!

ZinkDifferent
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2005

-7

01/20, 11:07am | report spam | close Reply |
Na�vet�

"It is uncertain why Apple would remove anti-piracy measures from iWork"
----

Na�vet� - how cute!

Wingsy
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2005

+6

01/20, 11:14am | report spam | (2 replies) close Reply |
OK, but why doubleclick?

iWork makes contact with several Apple servers when it is first launched, and I can go along with that (although I have no idea why). But what made my eyes bug out was when Little Snitch informed me that iWork was attempting to contact ad.doubleclick.net !!! Now what is THAT for? (Needless to say, I disallowed that one for forever.)

ebeyer
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2004

-3

01/20, 11:51am | report spam | (1 reply) close Reply |
OpenOffice

OpenOffice FTW. No DRM. No serial numbers.

Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 1999

-7

01/20, 12:51pm | report spam | (1 reply) close Reply |
mini schmini

Who gives a c*** about the 'mini' - will everyone just shut up about it. Get a lo-end refurb iMac - they are $899.

coffeetime
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2006

+1

01/20, 12:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: OpenOffice

OpenOffice interface sucks and there are glitches everywhere for the Mac. Get NeoOffice which is built for Mac with true Mac interface and it's free, just like OpenOffice.

Athens
Addicted to MacNN

Joined: Jan 2003

+1

01/20, 01:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
smart move

Its a waste of money and time to attempt to stop it. No matter what a company does the software will be cracked. This allows Apple to focus on providing a good product vs protecting it which is a battle that cant be won.

Bregalad1402
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2008

+2

01/20, 02:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
No serials

iWork is priced fairly, but not enough people consider it so a little casual piracy would be a really good thing for the future. Most average people who share apps with family and friends don't run Little Snitch or any other traffic filtering application so Apple will get a long list of users they can target in the future for a paid version.

Hardcore pirates can get around almost any protection so a serial number is really just a pain for legitimate purchasers.

The "guest" who thinks a refurbished iMac is a good substitute for a mini isn't thinking about how minis are really used. Outside the entry level market I'd guess most minis don't need a display because they're being used as servers or media centers. When I can afford another computer I'll definitely be getting a mini and hooking it up to my home theater receiver and big screen TV. That way my entire music library, photo library, video clips of my kids, etc. will be available on demand. AppleTV just doesn't have enough storage capacity so I'd need to buy a file server too. I might as well use one box for both jobs.

Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 1999

0

01/20, 09:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
People Buying iWork09

People who buy computers in the apple store usually buy the iwork suite for $50. These people in the stores that sit down and live apple dont know the first thing about torrents. Serial numbers for them is a punishment. People who use BT never purchased apple software in the first place, Apple isn't losing them.

dimmer
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Feb 2006

0

01/20, 10:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
Err

"They do track the MAC addresses"

Not only would this be impossible (unless if you were on the same LAN as the server), it would be pointless. IP address? go through any form of NAT (as over 90% of connections do) and that to is useless. Keeping track of useless information is capital D dumb.

Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 1999

+2

01/21, 03:18am | report spam | close Reply |
They just "Get It"

It's mostly because they just "Get It". It's going to be cracked, pirated anyway, why spend resources on that if they can't stop it. Plus, so what, people are going to buy it anyway.

Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 1999

-2

01/21, 03:20am | report spam | close Reply |
They just "Get It"

It's mostly because they just "Get It". It's going to be cracked, pirated anyway, why spend resources on that if they can't stop it. Plus, so what, people are going to buy it anyway.

shawnde
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2008

+2

01/21, 04:17am | report spam | close Reply |
re: OpenOffice

@CoffeeTime:

You maybe right about glitches, but it's hard to believe that NeoOffice would be any better, since it's based on the same code base as OpenOffice; therefore it would inherit most of the glitches if not all.

Also, the interface on OpenOffice is not that bad. The only downside to BOTH of these suites is the reliance on the Java Runtime, which slows it down, and basically cripples it a bit. If there was a true Cocoa port, then it would be worthwhile.

In the next little while, you'll find that OpenOffice will surpass NeoOffice in stability and speed, simply because there are more contributers on that project (being that it's the official distro).

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Apple drops anti-piracy measures from iWork '09

updated 09:25 am EST, Tue January 20, 2009

iWork drops serial numbers

Piracy

yeah

There is a plan.

10.5.6 requirement

tracking

Insignificant

10.5.6

Re: insignificant

No evidence of tracking

Na�vet�

Na�vet�

OK, but why doubleclick?

OpenOffice

mini schmini

Re: OpenOffice

smart move

No serials

People Buying iWork09

Err

They just "Get It"

They just "Get It"

re: OpenOffice

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Apple drops anti-piracy measures from iWork '09

updated 09:25 am EST, Tue January 20, 2009

iWork drops serial numbers

Related Articles

Recent Articles

Piracy

yeah

There is a plan.

10.5.6 requirement

tracking

Insignificant

10.5.6

Re: insignificant

No evidence of tracking

Na�vet�

Na�vet�

OK, but why doubleclick?

OpenOffice

mini schmini

Re: OpenOffice

smart move

No serials

People Buying iWork09

Err

They just "Get It"

They just "Get It"

re: OpenOffice

Login Here

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