Microsoft goes after illegal users

By Kimberly Guest for Microsoft
Johannesburg, 22 Jun 2007

International software vendor Microsoft SA has several initiatives under way to curb piracy and illegal use of its offerings.

So says Mark Reynolds, the company's group manager of small business and transactional partners.

Earlier this year, Microsoft's GM for East and Southern Africa Thapelo Lippe said piracy in the region was "rampant", with about 80% of the software on the continent pirated.

Although SA's piracy rates are considerably lower than the continent's average, Reynolds says piracy and illegal software use is still a "huge" concern for the local company.

"The Business Software Alliance's [BSA's] 2006 report on piracy said SA had a 35% piracy rate, which resulted in software companies losing $225 million [R1.6 billion]. We work closely with the BSA because we believe a collective voice is always far more effective than a lone voice. However, we also have our own initiatives targeted at the IT channel, businesses and consumers," he explains.

Auditing companies

Reynolds says the vendor continually evaluates the number of licences local companies have and then compares those figures to the size of the business to identify any discrepancies.

"I'm not altogether concerned with the level of business ethics in the country. On the whole, businesses are keen to have any discrepancies cleared up as quickly as possible. We prefer not to play heavy with businesses; however, we will enforce protective clauses in our contracts and take appropriate legal action if the person or company is in flagrant disregard of our intellectual property rights," explains Reynolds.

The company is encouraging 25 000 small and medium companies to audit their software environments to ensure they are legal.

"We've sent out requests to the identified businesses and have offered to help them with the audits if necessary. Chances are some may find they have too many licences - or the wrong kind of licensing agreement - for their type of business. If they have too few licences then we will help them to get legal."

Raiding pirates

Microsoft is also keeping a close eye on piracy activity in the region. The company recently worked with the South African Police Services to uncover an alleged piracy scam that was resulting in counterfeit copies of Microsoft products being sold through a stall at Brightwater Commons.

"Honest software resellers and consumers are the biggest losers when it comes to software piracy. Consumers get faulty, poor-quality products, cannot get support and often lose their money. Everyone loses, including Microsoft," says Reynolds.

He adds that counterfeiting and other forms of piracy negatively impact South Africans through lost jobs and stifling young entrepreneurs. He estimates a reduction in piracy by 10 percentage points over four years could generate 2.4 million new jobs, $400 billion in economic growth and $67 billion in tax revenue worldwide.