As it turned out, Apple knows about the possibility of updating pirated copies of iLife and iWork through the Mac App Store. This is reported by the publication MacTrast, referring to the statement of the American manufacturer. Let me remind you that users of pirated and demo versions of applications from the iWork package and the Aperture graphics editor were unexpectedly able to download updates from the Apple online store for free.
Here's how Apple commented on this situation:
"As you have noticed, our technical support site no longer allows you to download updates for Aperture, iWork and iLife. Moreover, now they are not even in our Software Update system. This happened because with the release of the new Mavericks operating system, we are changing the way updates for our software are distributed.
We will no longer separately keep updates and applications on the Mac App Store on the site, excluding the update system for older software versions. Now, when Mavericks finds apps on your computer, they are automatically identified as Mac App Store purchases and linked to an Apple ID. After all programs are detected, they will automatically go to your account's purchase history, as if you bought them in an Apple store."
When updating, Apple does not check the software license, which allows users to switch to licensed software absolutely legally, even if the activation keys have expired a long time ago. If you want to try such a system in action, simply install a trial or pirated version of one of Apple's products on your Mac, then select English as the system language and restart your computer. It remains only to go to the Mac App Store and in the "Updates" section update the "Apple" software to the full version.
In my opinion, Apple's new policy simply puts competitors on the shoulder blades. Free OS X Mavericks, free Apple software for OS X and iOS — all this is a huge step towards the company's users. Cupertino is ready to turn a blind eye to piracy and believe in the honesty of users, even if this is not always the case.
