It was announced that anyone using a pirated version of Microsoft Office couldn’t download anymore templates from the Office Download.

As of October 27 last week, anyone using a pirated version of Office will no longer be able to download Office templates or other Office downloads. From January 2007, pirated Office users will no longer be able to check for and download Office updates. (source)

My friend replied, “So what if I can’t download templates from the Office Downloads. Anyway, I never downloaded any from that site.”

I even told her that according to the news, “If you’re not legal, you won’t be able to update Office, and will have to run the risk that documents you receive from others don’t contain threats that could damage your system.(ibid.)”

She then replied, “Well, there’s no problem with that. Anyway, I can still use my unlicensed copy of MS Office without any hassle. Microsoft can only check the authenticity of my MS Office copy if I will connect to their site.”

Anyway, she got her reasons, but using the pirated copy of any software is still not good and can be considered theft.