Going back a few years now, I was working in a computer shop, I wasn't paid but I did get some money once and a while and parts when I needed them. This place dealt with second hard part and flogging off second hand computers, mostly running Windows 98se, of cause all these computers had non legit copy of Windows/office/antivirus installed on them. Now I must admit, I did add to this shops ability to prejudice such systems, I was able to get a hold of both office 2003 and Windows XP that didn't require activation, a corporate copy. The public collage I want to at the time was linked with the department of education and got all there software from the department. The keys used by the department are still valid and I do still use XP to date, on some computers. But the downfall of the shop wasn't anything to do with the crappy book keeping, the illegal software or the smell, the guy running the shop wasn't opening the doors all the time and the landlord wasn't happy and cut the lease. He was given the chance to be allowed to reopen the shop, but he choose not to. There is more buy I won't go into it. At no time of this shop running, well at least I understand, did we sell a computer that used a crack or any other software to program to override activation on any Microsoft application, it just wasn't there.
One reason I like Office 2000 is it doesn't require activation. Office XP may be the same now that I think about it ... no matter. You needed a key to install 2000 but that was it ... no blacklisting, no phone calls no internet connection needed and etc. I still have the disks that accompanied the Gateways we bought and essentially they're retail copies with no branding other than Microsoft's. About that time Microsoft got "smart" and developed product activation and the rest is history. But the short story is cracks or loaders aren't always needed for good software. Just depends on what you want or are willing to put up with. Many a good business has failed from poor and/or inappropriate management. Happens all the time but seems to me is nature's way of weeding out the weak.
I'm pretty sure that if the shop was open to the public when it was closed, the lease thing wouldn't have happened. Any who it has, I miss it. The shop mostly got it funding from selling the odd secondhand hard part and repairs, man did I love repairing computers. The shop got very few people who didn't like what they got, but still that did little to stop people from walking in off the streets with there computers, that and we did the repairs other places wouldn't, like laptops, lol I would pull apart a laptop and give the main board to the shop owner, he would take off or fix the broken plug and I would put it back together. That is something I can do myself now, but here that kind of thing just doesn't happen. But then away people are just lazy. After all of this I do have an idea, open a Internet cafe in a tourist town or just outside. But build it on land that I own, so I'd need to buy a farm or something. Owning the land and shop takes away the cosly bloody rent I would need to pay and if I do it right, build places for other shops to open up and charge them rent. But you know this would all cost a lot of bloody money and still could fail, it the place was toooooo farm from the town in question. Services I could set up, would be Wifi, charging laptops, camera's, tablet's, mobiles, etc... Internet access with a in house computer (Linux to save on costs) and computer repairs. God knows how much this would cost to setup and if I am carefully I could use a water turbine and not need to be hocked up to the grid or solar panels/ wind turbine to lower the cost of power. The less money needed, the more profit you can make, place saying and showing a green shop, get ppls talking. Still I shudder to think of the setup cost, well if I win a good chunk of moneys in lotto or saving for a while.