Many of us have heard the news story about a leaked corporate version of Windows Server 2003 released into the Internet recently. Even though the product is slated to be released into the public domain soon, beta copies have naturally been circulating for months. Microsoft is worried the leaked corporate copy, which doesn't need activation, may cause widespread piracy just as copies of XP Professional Corporate Edition did not long ago.

The code, a volume license product key (VLK), was likely leaked by a Microsoft employee who, at this moment, is probably in the process of chewing his or her fingernails to the quick wondering how much longer it will take the BG Death Squad to knock on their cubicle door and effectively end their employment with Microsoft.

However, corporate keys were never really meant as a rock solid anti-piracy measure, but more as a deterrent to the casual copier, somebody who would install it on a second machine at home or loan a copy to a friend.

I don't think the leaked versions really will present much of a problem for Microsoft. After all, when Win XP SP1 made it's debut last year, it effectively ended further updates to versions using the pirated product keys. This is something that can easily be done with updates and patches for Win2003. Anyone using Server 2003 is probably serious about what they do. Not having access to Windows updates and the tools they need to keep their servers running smoothly and protected from future vulnerabilities means it's just not worth using a pirated copy.

The downside of this situation is the price we may all have to pay when servers using a leaked version of Windows Server 2003 become test or launching beds for vulnerabilities and other malicious code they're not patched against.

Microsoft already has the leaked key in it's possession. It's guaranteed they're not about to let as much time pass before they take steps to stop this latest version of Windows from updating as they did with XP.