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By Jay Wrolstad
NewsFactor Network
January 26, 2005 11:19AM

Microsoft is launching an anti-piracy campaign that will require users to verify that their copies of Windows are genuine. Visitors to the Microsoft download center and Windows update site will be required to register with the company's Genuine Advantage program.
Hoping to stem the losses caued by unscrupulous software counterfeiters, Microsoft is launching an anti-piracy initiative that, among other things, requires all Windows users to verify that their copies of the software are legitimate.
This initiative is based on the Windows Genuine Advantage program, which checks the authenticity of a user's software and regulates access to Windows XP products.

Concern for Foreign Countries

Starting in the second half of 2005, visitors to the Microsoft download center and Windows update site will be required to register with Genuine Advantage to access all content. The site locks do not apply to ongoing automatic software updates.

According to Microsoft, some 5 million people have joined the Genuine Advantage program voluntarily since its inception in September. In taking the next step to thwart software piracy , the program will expand to include 20 new language versions of Windows XP. To access genuine Windows content, download center users with Norwegian, Czech and simplified Chinese language versions of Windows will be required to participate in the pilot program.



Microsoft also is offering a reduced-price copy of Windows to those in the People's Republic of China, Norway and the Czech Republic who can verify they have been sold a bogus edition of the software.

Piracy Costs Billions

Software firms are losing big to piracy. In 2003, some 36 percent of the software installed on computers worldwide -- valued at US$29 billion -- was copied or distributed illegally, according to a study released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

"Piracy has been a problem since the inception of the software industry, and it continues to grow," said Bob Kruger, vice president for enforcement at BSA. "The broad implications are fewer jobs, less R&D and innovation in the industry and, ultimately, a depressing effect on local and national economies."

The findings indicate that the size of a regional software market is related directly to piracy rates and monetary losses. An estimated 91 percent of software installed in the Ukraine in 2003 was pirated, for example, as compared to 30 percent in the UK. But dollar losses in the UK ($1.6 billion) were 17 times higher than those in the Ukraine ($92.1 million).

Reputation Suffers

As the world's biggest software provider, Microsoft is the favored target of those selling counterfeit software, Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio notes.

"Not only are they are losing lots of money, but the company's reputation is damaged when customers think they are getting the genuine product and receive a bad copy of software," she told NewsFactor. "They are fighting back, with the Trustworthy Computing effort and by offering rewards for the apprehension of hackers. This is another step in that direction."

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http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=30006