Not that I'm saying I believe they are tracking - they could be though. Every legitimate Leopard copy in the wild had to come from ADC seeding - thus it was downloaded (most likely) from the ADC Connection where you have to sign in with your account. They could be (although I doubt it) putting your id into that dmg file like they do to iTunes downloads.
Well, I hope you realize that the dev seeds are an entirely different matter from the end user product when it comes to anti piracy measures Apple is willing to take. One reason why they want control of their dev seeds is because they don't want details about them to get out in the wild too soon. As for the release product, Apple has most certainly not been tracking the legitimacy of OS X (client). If they're smart, they'll continue to tolerate OS X piracy. Unlike Microsoft, Apple also sells hardware. Plus, just look at the pathetic anti-piracy schemes Microsoft, Adobe and others have come up with:
- they have all been broken withing weeks, sometimes days of release, in rare cases even before the final product shipped
- they create endless headaches for many customers who legitimately obtained their licenses (remember the recent WGA server outage?)
- in general they do NOT give customers any advantage in return for the restrictions, unlike what the software companies would like you to think (I'm still waiting for Adobe floating licenses for small businesses, for instance)
All in all it's just one big fiasco. Apple should keep OS X out of those muddy waters.
lol. Still, if Apple found a legal way to do that after people payed for it... Like a certain key or something specifically generated for every purchaser, that might work.
