Microsoft Targets Holiday Pirates

With Symantec's report in ComputerWorld that piracy is costing them ore than $10 million in lost revenue annually, can you imagine what piracy must cost Microsoft? Well, Microsoft Aims to Protect Holiday Shoppers, Retailers From Technology Pirates:

"REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 4, 2006 — With its potential payload of viruses, worms, spyware and other hazards, counterfeit software can quickly turn a high-tech holiday stocking stuffer into a smoldering lump of coal. Microsoft Corp. today filed copyright infringement lawsuits against alleged dealers of counterfeit versions of the company’s programs, sending a shot across the bow at pirates scheming to defraud consumers and the vast majority of legitimate businesses out of earned profits during the holiday season.

The lawsuits Microsoft announced today are against those companies that allegedly distributed counterfeit and pirated software and software components or participated in hard-disk loading (installing unlicensed software on computers they sold). The suits were filed in 25 cities across the U.S., from Riverbank, Calif., to Melbourne, Fla. The vast majority of software distributors are honest businesses that lose out to the dishonest dealers that attempt to defraud consumers."

For information on a recent report of Vista piracy, see Windows Connected.