Microsoft alerts to harass pirate Windows and Office users

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 26 April 2006 04:14

IT Industry - Development

Microsoft intends to harass users of pirated copies of Office as well as Windows by sending them continual alerts after they download a software update patch. 

Using its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool and a new tool called Office Genuine Advantage (OGA), Microsoft intends to detect all pirate users of its software whenever they download the constantly needed security updates.Users who are detected running pirated software will receive constant unwanted alerts on their monitors telling them that they are using pirated software and that they should click on a link which will take them to a website for further instructions.

Countries named as targets for the Microsoft alerts include the US, UK, Malaysia, Australia and New zealand.

The WGA program has been running for 9 months but the OGA program is new and is still in pilot stage in countries such China, Russia, Korea, Brazil, among others.

The WGA program appears to be having a measure of success. However, it is unclear as to whether the OGA will have the same success with Microsoft Office users, who can opt to download the free open source office suite Open Office.org which has almost identical look and functionality and is compatible with the costly Microsoft version. A full version of Windows XP can cost more than $200, while Office 2003can cost more than $500, together effectively doubling the cost of a PC for some users.