Piracy is a major problem for Microsoft and others in the software industry. One software industry study estimated that more than a third of software is pirated, costing the industry $29bn a year. Microsoft won't put an exact figure on its losses, but said it is certainly in the billions over the past 10 years.
The validation effort is just part of Microsoft's threefold program, which focuses on educating users, engineering products in ways that minimise piracy, and enforcement through the legal system.
As for the added security risk, Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry said that people are putting too much of the blame on the software maker.
Cherry said it is not necessarily Microsoft's responsibility to protect people who aren't paying the company for its products. He likened the situation to buying a fake Rolex and then expecting warranty service if the product breaks.
The problem with that analogy, Cherry acknowledged, is that a broken Rolex doesn't put other watch owners at risk, whereas vulnerable computers connected to the Internet threaten all PC users. However, Cherry said that many of the computers that are at risk are using genuine, but older versions of Windows.
"There's a growing chance that the people whose machines are being taken over are running older systems which aren't really securable," he said.
Cherry said he thinks the company is acting appropriately, noting that making sure people are running genuine Windows is important for all customers.
"I think they are entitled to do this, and I think it is in customers' best interest to know that they have a genuine version of the software," he said. Counterfeit copies could contain their own bugs or viruses, and there is no way to guarantee that security patches will work, even if the user can download them, he said.
While Microsoft is the obvious beneficiary if piracy rates go down, Cherry said programs like Genuine Advantage also help level the playing field for smaller computer builders who play by the rules and find themselves undercut by dealers offering PCs with bogus copies of Windows.
"Those are the people I hope the program is helping," Cherry said.
Talkback
at last the kick i needed to make the move linux :)
Pirates won't pay up for a proper copy of Windows, they will just change to Linux where means allow. Otherwise they'll go without patching.
Consumers should start a "no pay for buggy, insecure software" initiative. I don't know why anyone would use Microsoft's garbage anyway. Maybe if Microsoft would spend more time on fixing their software and less on trying to maximize profits they could come up with something worth having on a computer. After that they might even develop something worth paying for!
"people whose copies are found not to be legitimate can get a discount on a genuine copy of Windows, though the price varies from $10 to $150 depending on the country"...
So the ethos then should be to first make sure you get a free pirated version installed on your computer, in order to get a discount to buy Windows! Brilliant idea :-p
In my profession if you can't prove it works without problems it doesn't get put into service and the client doesn't pay. Perhaps if Microsoft worked under the same constraints they might think more of getting it right for the customer.
Microsoft should be going after the distributors of so called free MSN software. Consumers are purchasing these versions oftentimes from dealers without knowing the software is 'pirated'.
MS thinks it can bully its way into complete monopolization of the software market, but it will only serve to push consumers away from its products when enough of us get tired of the constant barrage of new problems with MSN.
i realize windows is categorically an inferior product, so why doesn't someone come up with a viable alternative that will support the multitude of programs that windows does? Linux is only good for intermediate / advanced users and isnt very user friendly for anyone below that level.
It's interesting that Microsoft say that they have lost money on the pirated software. However what they neglect to mention is that the global dominance of this company and Windows has been aided by the widespread piracy of it's software. One example of this is if this software was fully priced in the far east and unavailable via piracy, it would be an enormous market which would be using Microsoft's competitors software, such as Linux. This practice is not new and has existed in many forms and is commonly known as a loss-leader.