Microsoft has filed copyright complaints to remove leaked download links for Windows 11.
The company filed the DMCA takedown notices with Google, according to Lumen, a website that tracks copyright complaints. Fossbytes reported on one such complaint filed last Thursday from Microsoft’s Japan offices. The complaint requested that Google pull search results for Beebom.com, a news site that hosted a link to download the Windows 11 leak.
“Beebom.com’s article is distributing Windows 11 ISO (copyrighted to Microsoft). Please remove their article from the search. It is a leaked copy of the unreleased Windows 11,” the takedown notice from Microsoft says.
The company also filed a DCMA takedown notice for a Google Drive account that hosted the Windows 11 leak. Another asks Google to “take action” concerning five other web pages that feature information or even instructions to download the Windows 11 file.
“They (the websites) are providing our paid product free to the user which affects our business,” the notice adds.
At the same time, many of the original file-sharing links hosting the Windows 11 leaks have all been removed. For example, a link from Mega.nz was perhaps first to circulate the Windows 11 ISO. But the link now says “The file you are trying to download is no longer available,” and attributes the error to either a copyright violation or because the file has been deleted by the original uploader. As a result, finding the Windows 11 leak online has become harder.
The takedown notices underscore the leaked Windows 11 build is almost certainly legit. PCMag ran the ISO, and found it actually works. Even the background services on the OS all appear to run from Microsoft’s servers directly.
However, the leaked build probably doesn’t contain every new feature in the upcoming OS, which is rumored to also include an overhauled Microsoft Store. The company is scheduled to reveal all during a June 24 event.
