Microsoft: Counterfeit Windows can harm consumers
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft has published findings of research around counterfeit versions of Windows XP that the company said shows the software could be harmful to consumers that purchase them. On Tuesday, the company filed 20 more lawsuits against companies it says are engaged in illegal software sales. It is part of an ongoing effort to prevent pirated copies of Windows from making the rounds. Microsoft studied 348 counterfeit Windows XP software disks, finding that 34 percent of the software copies could not be installed on a computer, and 43 percent had additional code that was not part of a genuine copy of Windows, the company said. According to Mary Jo Schrade, a Microsoft senior attorney, some of the code on the disks that was not part of Windows posed problems such as: installing malware in addition to installing Windows without the userâs knowledge; installing tampered or incomplete versions of Windows, rendering the OS unstable; and bypassing input of the administrator password. To obtain the copies of software used in the study, Microsoft uses investigators to buy software from vendors they suspect are selling counterfeit versions of Windows. The software used in the study was purchased in the U.S. as well as other countries in North America, South America and Asia. Schrade acknowledged that Microsoft's interest in identifying people who sell counterfeit Windows software and stopping them is not purely altruistic, since the company stands to gain financially from sales of genuine copies of Windows. "We put the research and development money behind the products and if someone copies and sells them, we're not getting paid for our research and development, thoughts and ideas," she said. However, Microsoft also is concerned about protecting consumers from any harm that purchasing nonlicensed and counterfeit versions of Windows could bring them, either through vulnerabilities or from spending money on software that does not work, she said. Microsoft filed the new lawsuits against companies in nine states -- Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Texas. Since July, when it began filing suits against software counterfeiters in earnest, Microsoft has filed 46 cases against companies and individuals it claims are selling pirated or counterfeit copies of Microsoft software. All of the cases are still pending, Schrade said. Over the next nine months Microsoft plans to double its investment in efforts to detect and prevent sales of counterfeit software, she said. The company plans to file at least 150 cases against alleged counterfeiters by the end of the company's fiscal year in June. Schrade declined to disclose how much money Microsoft has put into locating people who are selling counterfeit versions of Windows, saying only it is in the millions of dollars so far.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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More PCs run the alternative OS, but many will end up with a pirated version of Windows, report says.
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Microsoft last week quietly launched a pilot program to tackle the increasing problem of software piracy. Windows Genuine Advantage is the first trial of a validation scheme operating on Microsoftâs Download Center.
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Computer giant Microsoft has launched a pilot scheme to replace counterfeit versions of Windows XP with legal ones. The first-time initiative is restricted to the UK and to users with pre-installed copies
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Know whether your copy of Windows is licensed? The software maker might ask you this next time you visit its download site.
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A tool has been posted online that can apparently crack Vista's activation process by applying brute force -- and lots of time -- to come up with valid product keys. But the author is now telling users it's wrong to use it.
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Visitors with a pirated copy of Windows may lose easy access to company's Download Center.
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Following a three-year international investigation, Microsoft has reached agreement with a contractor that illegally produced and distributed counterfeit copies of the company's server software.
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Microsoft has filed its first lawsuits over allegedly counterfeit and illicit certificates of authenticity, the labels attached to software packages and computers to verify the legitimacy of the programs inside.
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As part of its fight against software piracy, Microsoft has filed lawsuits against eight resellers for allegedly buying and selling fake and used Certificate of Authenticity labels, the company says.
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What hope then for Vista toughness? Some, or maybe many, Microsoft volume license customers were told on Monday and Tuesday that their PCs were running pirated software.â¦
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Microsoft Corp. blamed human error for a problem that identified legitimate Windows users as pirates last week....
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Certificates of authority (COAs) are affixed to software packaging to let buyers know it&#39;s the real thing. But when the COA itself is counterfeit, resellers also feel the pain, Microsoft (Quote, Chart) found.
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Software piracy threatens to rob our cultural pioneers of their incentive to keep bringing us the best in everything they do. Microsoft is committed to preventing piracy from hurting legitimate software users, but by staying informed, you can ensure you're being part of the solution.   -- Microsoft on Software Piracy    Oops. Not taking your own advice is just silly.
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Microsoft filed lawsuits late last week against eight resellers nationwide for allegedly buying and selling counterfeit and used Certificate of Authenticity labels.
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Cheap everyday items such as pens and disposable razors are increasingly being counterfeited and many retailers unwittingly stock their shelves with fake products, companies and officials say.
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Microsoft has begun a short-term validation programme aimed at tackling software piracy. Users are invited to have their copies of Windows XP analysed, with the promise that they will be replaced free of charge if found to be counterfeit.