Microsoft has released the results of a broad consumer survey, which asked more than 38,000 men and women in 20 countries around the world about their perceptions of counterfeit software. By a three-to-one margin, consumers agreed that counterfeit software is not as safe to use as genuine, with data loss and ID theft among their top concerns. There was also resounding support for government and industry to take action against counterfeiters.
"The findings of the consumer survey clearly indicate that users in India are gradually acknowledging the perils and risks of using pirated or counterfeit software as against genuine software. In fact, customers everywhere are coming to us with complaints about pirated and counterfeit software. Approximately 6,000 Indian customers have reported the incidents of pirated or illegal software to Microsoft India in the last two years and we have, in turn, educated them on the threats and dangers of using counterfeit and pirated software," said Anil Varghese, Director - Genuine Software Initiative, Microsoft India.
The findings of the Consumer Survey reveal that consumers know the difference between genuine and counterfeit software and that genuine software performs better. More than 75 per cent of the consumers in India said they believe genuine software is more secure, more stable and is easier to keep up-to-date, while 45% of them believe that counterfeit software ROI is below par. 86% of the Indian consumers will buy genuine software even if it costs more as opposed to a mere 14% who will buy counterfeit software, as long as they are getting a good price and know the risks involved.
More than 50% of consumers think issues like error pop-ups, stolen password, lost data, etc. is more likely to happen with counterfeit software as against less than 14% who think otherwise. 79% agree that they need ways to protect themselves from inadvertently buying counterfeit software and 82% think software companies should do more to stop their products from being counterfeited.
80% of consumers are said to check the software packaging for evidence that the software was genuine (e.g., seals, product key numbers and so on), while 87% check the product description to make sure he/she was buying genuine software.
Focussing on what it calls the "three Es" - Education, Engineering and Enforcement - Microsoft makes a significant investment each year into educational resources to help consumers protect themselves, new technologies that make counterfeiting software more difficult, ensure easy access to genuine software, and seeks support of governments to enforce the laws against software counterfeiters and bring them to justice. By releasing the new data in conjunction with its annual Consumer Action Day, Microsoft is working to highlight its worldwide efforts to combat the software piracy problem.
