You may find this interesting:
        Microsoft slapped two more lawsuit against one teenager and one
        retired worker for using pirated Windows 98 software.
 It's true that Microsoft has gotten much more serious about going after people using unlicensed copies of their software. 

        For your information on how Microsoft actually trace
        PIRATED/COPIED/UNLICENSED Windows 98: Whenever you logon into
        the Internet, during the verifying password duration, your ISP
        (Internet Service provider e.g: SingNET,PacNET,
        CyberNET,SwiftNET) will download a SUB-REGISTRY ENCRYPTED
        HEXADECIMAL (containing all your PROGRAMS serial numbers
        installed into Win98!!) file from your Windows 98 registry. Then
        they send this SUB-REGISTRY to Microsoft for verification.  And
        ONLY Microsoft knows how to decode this encrypted hexadecimal
        file. If Microsoft verified that the serial numbers are
        authentic, then they WILL REGISTER THOSE NUMBERS FOR YOU
        A-U-T-O-M-A-T-C-A-L-L-Y !!! And if Microsoft denied those serial
        numbers, then they will send an E-Mail to the ISP you dialed
        into and your ISP will start tracing everyone who logons to
        their systems.
 The above is a bunch of nonsense but it's actually true that for NT5/Windows 2000, there will a "registration wizard" that will force you to register after a certain period of time.  Registration will carry with it the serial number so Microsoft will make piracy more difficult. (This is a serious problem world-wide, with some countries using more unlicensed copies of Windows than licensed copies.) 

        That's why during sometime for no reason your Internet started
        slowing down. And if your ISP verified that the SUB-REGISTRY
        ENCRYPTED HEXADECIMAL file is yours, they will send your
        information over to Microsoft Singapore. And there they will
        decide whether to take actions or not. There is already 54 cases
        in Singapore regarding uses  of PIRATE/COPIED/UNLICENSED Windows
        98. I do not wish to see any of my friends get into this million
        dollar tangle from Bill Gates, not that I hate this guy, but it
        really sucks when they made such anti-piracy move into the
        software itself - thus forcing everyone to buy Microsoft
        original's Windows 98, if not they'll slap you with a lawsuit.
        Forward this mail to as many people you know, and who knows you
        may just save one of your friends from getting sued by
        Microsoft.
 The claim that this is slowing down the internet is really rather amusing. 

Forward this mail to as many people you know