BWI: Consumers Join Hands with Microsoft to Fight Software Piracy

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Microsoft
Thursday, December 03, 2009 04:46 PM IST (11:16 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Education & training, Information technology; Technology
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Consumers Join Hands with Microsoft to Fight Software Piracy
Microsoft Celebrates Empowerment of Consumers on "Consumer Action Day"

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, December 03, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- Microsoft India today announced the launch of new consumer led education and enforcement initiative to reduce the menace of piracy in the country, basis the voluntarily submitted consumer reports on piracy. Aptly calling the initiative the 'Consumer Action Day', the move aims to protect consumers from the risks and perils of pirated/counterfeit software and to educate, enable and empower consumers to fight and reject piracy by reporting instances of software piracy and counterfeiting by the resellers and instances where they have been the victim of piracy. Over the last few months, Microsoft received numerous complaints of serious nature from alert and diligent consumers who had unknowingly purchased unlicensed/counterfeit software and found it riddled with viruses or malware. Today, consumers who are victims of piracy or those who are aware of pirated products which have been sold to them by fraudulent means can register a complaint with Microsoft by logging into www.microsoft.com/piracy or can write to piracy@microsoft.com or call phone numbers provided at the said sites. Online resources like http://www.microsoft.com/howtotell/ provide detailed information and examples of unlicensed/counterfeit software to help consumers identify if their software is original, while Microsoft Genuine Advantage(WGA) and Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) help consumers validate whether their software is original or not. Further, Microsoft's supported ecommerce website www.buyoriginalms.com provides easy access to original products from Microsoft.

Microsoft has taken steps to help consumers who have provided full support, information and evidence to Microsoft's anti-piracy team. Additionally, basis these complaints, Microsoft sent several caution notices to those resellers identified by the customers, and initiated few civil legal actions on the errant resellers based on the consumer reports. Microsoft also undertook police led criminal market sweeps against channel pirates in the known hot beds of piracy in the country that included Lamington Road & Fort Area in Mumbai, Lalbagh in Lucknow and Krishna Nagar in New Delhi. These legal activities led to interim injunction from the courts and search and seizure of pirated software coupled with spot arrests of the pirates by the police, software piracy being a criminal offence.

Outlining the initiatives in India Mr. Vipul Sant, Director - Original Software Initiative remarked, "Software piracy is a problem that plagues the entire economy. It is time for collective action and we are encouraged by the consumers who have come forward to highlight their grievances before us. It shall be our endevour to continue to provide increased access to original software and to spread wider awareness on the value that original software provides so that consumers can safeguard themselves from falling prey to pirated software. Going forward Microsoft is very clear about taking toughest action against those resellers who have been reported by the consumers".

Microsoft reiterated its commitment to protect consumers, resellers and the partner ecosystem from the threat and losses associated with piracy and to prevent counterfeiters from taking advantage of innocent victims and gaining an unfair advantage over honest partners. Part of a global initiative, Consumer Action Day is being observed by more than 70 countries with key educational initiatives and enforcement actions to protect consumers from unlicensed/counterfeit software. This initiative was following a surge of voluntary reports - more than a 150,000 - from consumers across the world. This reflects the consumers' growing concern for the harm caused by unlicensed/counterfeit software and Microsoft's efforts to give consumers a voice in the fight against software piracy and counterfeiting.

"An overwhelming majority of our enforcement cases which are a mix of civil and criminal actions resulted from tips and reports from consumers," said Rakesh Bakshi, Director- Legal and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft India "Consumers who are duped by fraudulent software encounter viruses lose personal information, risk having their identities stolen and waste valuable time and money. Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to working with pro-active consumers, including our partners, government agencies, and NGOs, to protect everyday users of PCs from the ill effects of pirated and counterfeit software."

Software piracy is an industry-wide problem that has significant impact on the economy, and affects legitimate businesses that have to compete with those selling counterfeit software. According to the Sixth Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study, piracy levels in India are pegged at 68 percent -while the losses caused by software piracy amount to a whopping US$2.7 billion in 2008. Infact, according to a study by BSA, The Economic Benefits of Lowering PC Software Piracy 2008, a 10 point reduction in PC software piracy would deliver an additional 44,000 new jobs, $200 million in tax revenues, and $3.1 billion in economic growth in India. Consumers spend millions each year on counterfeit copies, financing scammers who threaten the integrity of the software industry and the security of home and business computers.

Many a time consumers are unaware that pirated software can leave them susceptible to unwanted malware and spyware that lead to significant losses to businesses. Mr. Ashish Chandrakant Chatur, an entrepreneur from Mumbai, who deals in computer hardware and software solutions, recounts his experience, "I had supplied a laptop to a customer by installing Microsoft Windows XP Professional Pack bought from a Local Dealer, and I assumed that the product is original. However, after a few months my client approached me with the fact that the copy of the software was a pirated copy. This left me in a fix, as it was seriously questioning my credibility. This made me realize that by buying from a local dealer in order to save a small amount of money made my life more miserable and unhappy. So, I contacted Microsoft and reported the matter along with supporting invoices and they helped me retain my prestige and reputation with the client."

Moreover, most people simply find themselves without the software they thought they were paying for. Unable to get a refund from the dealer, consumers end up having to purchase the product all over again. Such was the experience of Mr. Madhu Karunakaran from Cochin. He said, "I found out that I had a counterfeit copy of Windows when I went through the Windows Genuine Advantage validation process. The seller had misrepresented it as an original product. Further, the seller's price was only a bit lower than the market average, so I assumed that I was getting a better deal. Generally, I have a high opinion of Microsoft's efforts on behalf of victims of software piracy."

The effects of malware can range from annoying advertisements to a severe breach of information security and loss of critical and personal data. In a recent study, KPMG states that over 39 percent of organizations reported security incident of non-genuine software detection in their IT environment while more than 60 percent of websites surveyed include a varying degree of threat vectors that can potentially impact information systems security.

Lately, with Windows 7, the company has improved the product activation and validation process in the operating system. Windows Activation Technologies in Windows 7 are built off the Software Protection Platform introduced with Windows Vista, which enabled Windows to protect itself by detecting when attempts have been made to circumvent or tamper with built-in product activation technology and helped customers more easily activate the product and resolve potential issues. Windows 7 includes the latest generation of this technology, including changes that have been made, so that users will see more informative notification messages and be able to more easily complete the steps in the process.

About Microsoft India

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. Microsoft Corporation (India) Private Ltd is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, USA. It has had a presence in India since 1990 and currently has offices in 13 cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.


CONTACT DETAILS
Laureen Cheran Momin, Text 100 India, +91 9999010098, laureenm@text100.co.in
Tushar Makkar, Microsoft India, +91 9810437303, tmakkar@microsoft.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, EDUCATION, IT, TECHNOLOGY

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