Forum debate: Windows and Office licences for 4 euros

Buying Windows for four euros: the debate that never ends

A Windows 10 Pro licence costs several dozen euros on Microsoft's website. On eBay or Amazon it can be found for under ten. Between those two prices lives a market that has been running for years: resold MSDN keys, OEM licences that are not really OEM, and Office accounts bought in bulk. The argument over whether this is a scam, a bargain or simply invoiced piracy has been going on since 2018 and remains unresolved.

The origin of the business is easy to explain and hard to trace. According to one forum user, the keys sold for the price of a coffee usually come from MSDN subscriptions —Microsoft's developer programmes— or from volume licences held by companies and public administrations. Another participant, who says he works for the DGA (the regional government of Aragon), claims that the public sector has licences to spare and that someone is selling them off. The private buyer receives a key that activates the system but, according to these accounts, does not legally belong to them and can be deactivated by Microsoft.

What the buyer thinks they are buying and what they actually buy

Confusion is at the heart of the matter. Whoever pays eight euros for a licence believes they are buying the same thing as someone paying one hundred and fifty, just cheaper. According to critics of these practices, that is not the case: MSDN licences are intended for development machines, not home use, and OEM licences are tied to a manufacturer. When Microsoft detects misuse, it deactivates the key and the user is left with a system that starts warning it is not genuine.

Some have had the same key for three years without problems. Others saw their Windows stop being activated after six months. The difference between the two cases does not depend on the buyer, but on when Microsoft decides to review that key. The seller, meanwhile, has already been paid.

Is licence resale legal in Europe?

The short answer is that the resale of retail licences does have backing in European case law. The long answer is that this does not cover MSDN or OEM keys, which are the ones sold for four euros. According to critics, the confusion between the two types of licence is deliberate: the seller invokes European law to give an appearance of legality to a product that is not covered by it.

The buyer who complains finds that Microsoft offers no support and the seller, at best, sends another equally irregular key. At worst, the seller has vanished. Some have recovered their money; others have not.

The buyer's maths: four euros versus one hundred and fifty

The buyer's logic is hard to refute in purely economic terms. If an official licence costs several dozen euros and an eBay key costs four, the difference is an order of magnitude. Even if the key lasts only a year, the saving is still huge. And if it lasts four, the deal is a steal.

The problem, critics say, is that this calculation ignores two things. First, that a free alternative exists: activating Windows without paying is no more illegal than buying a resold MSDN key, and it costs less. Second, that the buyer is paying for something they believe is legal and is not. Legally speaking, they argue, the situation of the person who pays four euros and the person who pays nothing is practically the same.

Why Microsoft does not shut down the tap

The obvious question is why a company that pursues piracy with lawyers does nothing about this market. The answer circulating on the forum is that it suits Microsoft: every copy of Windows activated, legal or not, reinforces its market share. The operating system is the gateway to other services, and as long as the user stays inside, the origin of the key matters little.

That tolerance would have a limit: businesses. That is where audits and penalties do apply, according to participants. The private individual buying a four-euro key is not a priority target. They know the risk of having their licence deactivated is low, and accept that if it happens, they will simply buy another.

The alternative nobody mentions

Throughout this discussion, one element rarely comes up: free software. Linux and its derivatives today cover most home and professional uses, and they are free. The obstacle is not technical —the drivers exist— but one of habit and compatibility with specific programs. Those who need Windows for work or gaming have less room to manoeuvre; those who use it to browse and write documents, more.

The paradox is that the buyer of cheap licences is usually someone who does not critically need Windows. They pay for something they could get for free, think they are being clever, and are in fact funding a business that feeds on other people's keys, according to critics. The saving is real. The legality is not.