Microsoft drives hard to propagate Genuine Advantage

Piracy and counterfeit software are a menace to the IT industry, to the vendor and to the users as well. As per BSA (Business Software Alliance Group) reports, 35 per cent of the world’s software is pirated. Of the 97 countries worldwide that the BSA tracks, more than half’– 51 countries – have a median piracy rate of 64 per cent. This means that, particularly in the emerging and developing nations, two-thirds of all the software in use is either pirated or is a faulty facsimile of the original package. BSA says, for every two dollars worth of PC software purchased legitimately, software worth one dollar was obtained illegally. In terms of value, BSA estimates that software vendors and the associated service and support organizations lose a staggering $50 billion or more annually to software piracy. In this scenario, the biggest losers are the proprietary software majors like Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, etc. Microsoft being the largest software, vendor for the SMB space is the biggest sufferer because of piracy or becomes a victim at the hands of fly-by-night operators. To counter this menace, Microsoft also had started Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) and Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) in October 2006.

As per the Genuine Advantage Drive, Microsoft has made it mandatory for certain office software being downloaded to get it validated by the Microsoft’s Download Centre. And, Office online template downloaded from within the Office 2007 applications will also require validation. In addition to this, with the Windows update, office update will also require validation beginning in January 2007.

Microsoft has also provided a certain safe passage for the customers to obtain genuine software if they declare of being duped by the reseller or by any other source of purchase. Upon filing a counterfeit report and providing the proof of purchase along with the counterfeit CDs to Microsoft, the customer will be entitled to receive genuine software. Secondly, if the customer is detected by the OGA validation process, he will be asked to buy OGA kit for Microsoft.

But even after such a comprehensive procedure, if the users continue to use the illegal software, then Microsoft will resort to enforcement.

Speaking to VARIndia, Brian J. Campbell, Head – Genuine Software Initiative, Microsoft India, says,–“We continue to rely on three strategies and the first one of them is education. Education can be for an individual residing in a home or even for a young school-going child.”

He adds,” “A child even, who is using PC for storing his digital pictures, music and his school papers etc. involves his time and the stuff he loads on to the computer carries certain monetary value as well. Oftentimes, these categories of users unknowingly become vulnerable to pirated operating system. And that enables them to compromise with the safety of their valuable data.”

According to Brian, IDC and Microsoft conducted a research in 47 countries in terms of genuine software availability and they found that 50 per cent of the software licences have some sort of Malware, AdWare or corrupt binary code. All these substances actually destabilize the working environment and easily put the user to incur service cost and acquisition cost.

It can easily corrupt the user’s system and the entire important documents go off. It all happened because the user was using the pirated software, which had non-native code or non-binary code on it or some other form of harmful substance.

Brian says, “Like pirated software, counterfeit software is also a big issue and the user is liable for enforcement. Counterfeit software is like the counterfeit 500-rupee note in India. It is so well produced that unless you are trained, you will not be able to determine which is a real one and which one is not.”

In order to curb the menace, Microsoft has started an expansive education campaign for the customers and partners. The company is planning to include all the possible media, including TV, radio, cinema halls, print, web, etc. to spread the message. Brian adds, “We will tell the customers why the genuine software is essential and how to go about the genuine software.”

Brian, who is a champion of Microsoft SAM initiative, also argues for using various tools and processes, including SAM, to access the enterprises usage pattern of software and applications.

He strongly believes that pricing and availability are not an issue for the Microsoft products to be at the point of piracy. According to him, Microsoft has online procurement procedure. For example, in the top 10 metros, the customer can buy software online and the delivery can be made within 24 hours. In the B-class cities, it takes 48 hours to deliver the products and if the customer staying in remote areas, then Microsoft provides an SMS number and the company delivers the software within 48 hours also. Microsoft is also working very hard with the channel and OEMs to propagate the use of original software.

Secondly, the operating systems, these days, come with various SKUs in order to suit the affordability and usability of the customers. So, the perception of Microsoft products being high priced remains only a myth.

However, very modestly, Brian says, “The customers have the sole right to pick and choose. But they should pick a genuine one. And, if at all the customer buys software, which is not genuine, he may not be liable operationally but certainly liable legally.”

Urging the partners, he maintains, “Partners and customers are like assets to us. We really value our partners. 99 per cent of our business happens through our partners. We do expect our channel partners to obey the law. They need to undertake the responsibility of educating the users of using the legal software and make sure they do not deceive the customers. They should understand the value of the original software, and if any pirated software goes with the customers PC, the reseller will be under the obligation of resolving the issue and it probably will not be a pleasant experience for either of them.”

Finally…

The software piracy issue is so rampant that buying or downloading from web sites is also not safe. In an IDC report, it is tracked that many of the web sites provide counterfeit product keys, pirated software, etc. To be more precise, IDC had searched 98 web sites. Out of this, 25 web sites had malicious or potentially unwanted software.

It is also observed that in large enterprises, the case is only 10–15 per cent, whereas in the SMBs it is above 40 per cent. Therefore, both industry and vendors should make a concerted effort to eradicate this malpractice.