Microsoft anti-piracy drive continues

Microsoft has settled with 12 computer retailers caught selling illegal software to unsuspecting customers across the UK over the last six months.

According to the software giant, the majority of the software being pre-loaded onto new PCs were unlicensed copies of Office and the Vista operating system (OS).

The move towards illegal copies of Vista is a change from last year when the software giant found large numbers of the perennially popular Windows XP OS being sold illegally.

“These traders tend to be a bit behind the times but they are catching up with the latest software now,” said a Microsoft representative.

The company said the main aim of its anti-piracy drive is to protect unwitting customers and honest computer shops. It said it will offer consumers free replacement software if they have been duped by sophisticated counterfeit copies.

But Graham Arthur, anti-piracy attorney for Microsoft UK, said: “It’s not always easy to get your money back if you find out you’ve been duped. Having to fork out a second time to replace illegal software is the kind of financial headache no-one needs.”

The 12 traders have all escaped prosecution because they all admitted selling illegal software. They have also all agreed to work with Microsoft to ensure they stopped selling unlicensed programs.

Mr Murphy from 1Hr Computers, a Manchester-based firm and one of the traders discovered to be selling unlicensed copies on PCs, said: “We recognise that we weren’t installing Microsoft software correctly, and that’s something we take seriously.

“We’ll be working with Microsoft over the next few weeks to make sure what we do falls within their software rules from now on. It’s good to see Microsoft working with small computer traders like us to ensure we’re up to speed on the right way to use and sell their software. Getting it right is important to us and to our customers – the lifeblood of a business like ours.”