InformationWeek reported that a group called Pantheon has developed a hack which makes a pirated version of Vista to run as if it was a fully licensed and activated version. This procedure was based on the fact that PC manufacturers receive large volumes of the operating system and that they do not require full product activation.

There are no reports yet whether many people took advantage of the exploit.

Last year, Microsoft sued companies who were participating in the gray market software trade. They sued companies in six states including New York, Montana, and California.

Source: InformationWeek