Handii puts its hand in its pocket to the tune of $70K to compensate Microsoft

Stephen Withers
Friday, 03 June 2011 15:31

IT Industry - Strategy

Tablet vendor Handii has agreed to pay Microsoft $70,000 to settle legal action over unauthorised copies of Windows 7 Professional.

Did you buy a Handii tablet PC? Did it come with Windows 7 Professional? If the answers to both those questions are 'yes' you should contact the company to get a legitimate copy of the operating system.

Microsoft brought action against Handii Pty Ltd in the Federal Court, alleging that the company had supplied unauthorised (Microsoft prefers the term 'counterfeit') copies of Windows 7 Professional preinstalled on its tablet PCs.

The matter has been settled with Handii agreeing to pay $70,000 to Microsoft, and to provide its customers with licensed ('genuine') copies of the operating system at no extra charge.

Clayton Noble, legal counsel at Microsoft Australia, said, "This is a situation where we believe Handii's customers would have been under the impression that they were purchasing genuine copies of Windows 7 Professional. In these circumstances, it's important for Microsoft to take action to ensure that the purchasing public gets the genuine products it expects, and we thank Handii for its cooperation and collaboration in this matter. "

Microsoft instigated the action after a six-month investigation of unauthorised copies of Windows and counterfeit certificates of authenticity in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, which culminated in synchronised police raids.