Microsoft turns the screws on software pirates

In the last 12 months Microsoft has been actively fighting the scourge of software piracy, including hard disk loading, saying its more aggressive stance is part of its goal to ensure the integrity of its channel and to protect users against unscrupulous vendors.

"We need to send out a clear message to pirates - that software piracy will not be tolerated. At the same time we need to inform the end-user of the perils of buying pirated software, especially with the recent launch of Windows XP with Product Activation," said Mark Reynolds, in charge of Microsoft SA`s anti-piracy and legalisation division.

With Product Activation - which comes standard with Windows XP - when the user purchases a copy of the operating system he has to activate the product, otherwise after 30 days the software will be unusable. If he has an illegal copy of Windows XP it will simply not activate.

Reynolds pointed out that one of the main piracy activities receiving focus from Microsoft is hard disk loading - where a PC dealer takes one copy of the software and loads it onto many computers, then selling it on to the unsuspecting customer. "Our long-term intention is to assist the legitimate resellers - and the end-user.

"During the last 12 months, Microsoft has reached out of court settlements with 15 software pirates, assisted the police with numerous raids, instituted legal proceedings against alleged software counterfeiters and laid a number of criminal complaints with the SAPS."

He added that it "cannot be ignored" that software piracy is costing the country billion of rands every year.

"Our message is clear: if users want to ensure they are buying legal software they should ensure that they are given an original disk, manuals and a certificate of authentication. If they are not given these items when buying their PC it is highly likely that the reseller they are buying from is infringing Microsoft`s intellectual property rights by hard disk loading or counterfeiting. And with the introduction of Product Activation, many users could end up with a product that just doesn`t work."

Reynolds said Product Activation is one of the most important developments in the company`s fight against software piracy, an activity that indirectly causes the loss of more than 14 000 jobs a year.

"Product Activation is an automatic process and only takes a few seconds of the end-user`s time. And, contrary to some misconceptions, the only information we receive when a product is activated is the activation key of the product."