Microsoft News Tracker

It’s hard to get excited about anti-piracy campaigns, but look at it this way. If Microsoft VP Michael Sievert is correct and “one third of the Windows PCs that shipped worldwide included pirated versions of Microsoft’s software,” an effective anti-piracy campaign might do more for the Microsoft bottom line than a whole bunch of new products.

Tom Espiner and Graeme Wearden at ZDNet UK:

Microsoft has launched a campaign in the UK in an attempt to cut use of counterfeit and other unlicensed software in organisations.
…
Michala Alexander, who heads up Microsoft’s fight against counterfeit software, said Microsoft wants to clamp down on computer vendors who install a single licensed copy of Windows or Office on multiple PCs. “A small number of IT vendors are at the moment putting customers at risk of unwittingly running illegal software,” he said. “Microsoft will not tolerate illegal copies of its software being sold.”
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Microsoft hopes to cut the overall level of Windows piracy in the UK by 5 percent, as measured through its Genuine Advantage scheme, which lets users check whether they are running authorised versions of Microsoft’s products.

Without knowing the UK piracy rate it’s hard to tell how significant that is, but if it’s like Sievert’s one third, they’re talking about 1-5% (depending on how the 5% is defined) of Windows revenues in the UK which isn’t chickenfeed.