Johannesburg, 13 Jun 2008
South African businesses have welcomed Microsoft's latest crackdown on illegal software.
The software giant this week announced 21 lawsuits in 14 states across the US against resellers allegedly selling pirated software.
This comes hot on the heels of Microsoft SA's recently reached settlements, worth hundreds of thousands of rands, with 21 local dealers found to be selling computers loaded with unlicensed Microsoft software.
Mornay Durant of The IT Department, a Johannesburg-based small business specialist, says: "Knowing Microsoft is targeting resellers of illegal software in my area gives me one less thing to worry about."
He adds: "When the economy is struggling, it is difficult to focus on adding value to your customers when other organisations are using unfair practices to gain an advantage, especially when it comes to the pricing of software."
Microsoft SA partner executive Mark Reynolds says counterfeiting and other forms of piracy negatively impact the South African economy through lost jobs, and stifling young entrepreneurs.
He cites IDC estimates that a reduction in piracy by 10 percentage points over four years could generate an extra 1 210 jobs in the IT sector, R6 billion in local industry revenue, and R490 million in additional tax revenue.
"Illegal software doesn't only cost the big vendors dearly. New estimates from IDC suggest that worldwide, the industry is losing more than $10 billion a year from pirated desktop software. The proceeds of counterfeiting help fund organised crime, and impacts directly on job creation and economic development in this country," says Reynolds.
Last month, Microsoft announced its second Fair Play Day in the Latin America region. Investigations led to the seizure of more than 160 000 counterfeit copies of Microsoft software - with an estimated street value of US$18.2 million - in collaboration with Interpol and national law enforcement agencies in 14 Latin-American countries.
Related story:
Software piracy costs SA R1.9bn
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