LUCKNOW, INDIA: For software developers and resellers, the fight against piracy seems to be an unending one. The recent launch of Microsoft Windows 7 was shrouded with the news of its availability as pirated copies.

In order to check the open and blatant piracy of Microsoft products, the vendor recently launched a scheme called Seven 7s to encourage resellers to sell the original products. But even as the scheme was announced, Microsoft also filed a complaint about the rampant software piracy in a notorious market in Lucknow.

MS Seven 7 to prevent piracy

Following the complaint, on Nov 17, the Lucknow police conducted raids in the Naza Market of Lal Bagh area, Lucknow. Channel partners in the region confirmed that they had heard about the raid but refused to divulge information on the same.

As per information from Microsoft, the raids were carried out in around four shops. Approximately six persons, who were allegedly involved in duplication, copying and selling pirated software were arrested.

The police seized around 750 copies of pirated software and around 12-13 CD writers during the police raid operation.

Piracy: Fact or fiction?

Shedding light on the incident, Vipul Sant, director—Original Software Initiative, Microsoft India said, “Over the last few months, we have been tracking the sale of pirated Windows 7 and other Microsoft software products across the country. The police and the legal proceedings will take its own course as per the law and procedure.”

Microsoft undertakes a variety of anti-piracy campaigns to attack and check piracy. Sant claimed that they would continue to take police action wherever they came across blatant forms of piracy.

“The raid was one part of our ongoing initiative to protect our software from being pirated, so that the honest reseller community remains protected and that the respect for our intellectual property is maintained. We will continue to keep a watch on the markets for pirated versions of Windows 7 and other Microsoft products, collect samples and take action as appropriate,” he added.

Reiterating the role of the reseller community in ensuring the sale of original software, Sant stated that they were the link between software vendors and end consumers. Partners educate and encourage the end consumer and SMB segment, and drive them to purchase original software.

Windows 7 piracy a big-time biz in India

He further said that at Microsoft, we have undertaken various long-term, sustained initiatives to create awareness among the distributor community through incentive programs, events, monthly newsletters, etc. It has been our endeavor to work with the reseller community across India to create a healthy and safe reseller ecosystem where genuine software is adopted as a correct and safe IT business practice. The three pillars of our outreach are education, engagement and enforcement. Every year, Microsoft sends periodic letter mailers and EDMs addressed to channel owners and partners to educate them about the products, problem of software piracy, informing them about the risks and dangers of indulging in software piracy, both to them as well as to their customers. As to the second level, we work closely with approximately 12-13 channel associations across various regions to collaborate on intellectual property and piracy awareness programs to their member base. We also conduct periodic market checks to track the behavior of the reseller community towards genuine software, all in an effort to alert the resellers and reduce the instances of piracy.

According to Sant, enforcement was only used as a very last resort where they see consistent instances of piracy detected at a premises.

“Therefore in all, Microsoft always believes in its education outreach programs and channel engagement models to drive genuine business behavior to protect their customers and the honest resellers,” he concluded.