In an effort to protect its intellectual property, Microsoft is warning Internet users not to download the Windows source code that appeared online last week.
Microsoft is sending warnings to users who search for its source code on peer-to-peer file-swapping services and is mailing legal warnings to those who have already downloaded the secret programming code, says Tom Pilla, a Microsoft spokesperson. The company has acknowledged the code, spreading on the Internet without its authorization, is genuine if incomplete.
Pilla will not say which P-to-P services Microsoft is targeting or how the company is delivering the alerts on the services it doesn't own.
"These alerts serve to inform users who initiate a search looking for Windows source code that it is illegal to view, download and share the code," he says.
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