Microsoft Corporation has issued a summons against computer hardware and software reseller PC Games World CC for R1 million in damages, for alleged software piracy. The summons is a result of complaints received from the public and subsequent investigations into the company`s alleged unlawful hard-disc loading and the alleged sale of counterfeit Microsoft products since 2003.
A common form of software piracy is hard-disc loading. This occurs when resellers load one copy of a Microsoft product onto several computers they sell, resulting in unsuspecting customers `purchasing` unlawful software with their newly-acquired hardware.
Bradley Hopkinson, small and medium solutions and partner group director at Microsoft South Africa, says: "Our distribution and channel partners ask for our support in addressing infringement of intellectual property rights to ensure there is a level playing field. To ensure their protection we need to act decisively against unethical resellers."
Piracy and counterfeit products have become an increasingly important issue throughout the technology industry. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) estimates that 35% of all software used worldwide is counterfeit or otherwise illegal.
A recent IDC Economic Impact Study found that if the global software piracy rate was lowered 10 percentage points over the next four years, this change would create 2.4 million new jobs and would contribute $400 billion in economic growth to the global economy.
"It used to be that we were dealing simply with unlicensed copies of software, which hurt Microsoft and the ecosystem of partners that makes a living selling our products," Hopkinson says. "Today the problem is much bigger, and we need to do whatever we can to help protect consumers and ensure they are purchasing and using genuine Microsoft software."
Consumers or businesses that deploy counterfeit software put their PCs and networks at the risk of encountering tampered code, viruses and even credit card theft. In the end, the consumer and the company may suffer just as much harm, if not more harm, than the software vendors themselves.
"The possibility of a system becoming infected by spyware or other malware such as viruses or receiving incomplete code increases when consumers are sold counterfeit software. Microsoft has also seen instances of credit card theft by those purporting to sell software online that later turned out to be counterfeit." says Hopkinson.
Installing and using counterfeit software can also prevent customers from obtaining updates or add-on products such as newer versions of Microsoft Windows Media Player or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Access to these technologies is offered to users of genuine Microsoft Windows products through a validation process.
To learn more about protecting intellectual property, software asset management and to learn "how to tell" some of the security features of genuine software and help ensure product authenticity, go to www.genuine.co.za.
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