Piracy: Fact or fiction?

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Though the news of pirated versions of Windows 7 doing rampant business in Lucknow has hit the market, leading national and sub-distributors of Microsoft beg to differ.

While many partners were surprised on being asked if they were aware of the news of pirated versions of Windows 7 raking in up to Rs 50 lakh within two weeks of the official launch in India, others even sounded amused at the prospect.

Pankaj Kumar Agarwal of Docket Care Systems, Lucknow mentioned that he has heard about Windows 7 being rampantly pirated, that too even before its launch. “But I have not come across any such copies and have placed an order for five packs of Windows 7 from Kapish Infolink in Delhi. The response to this new OS seems to be good. Already we have sold 30-35 computers (HP Pavilion) preloaded with Windows 7 within 10 days, and its feedback is much better than Vista.”

On the other hand, Alok Gupta of Delhi-based Softmart Solutions questioned, “The original packages are not even available yet, so how can pirated copies be out already?” He added that rampant usage of beta copies was done through the channel that sell pirated copies.

“Customers are buying beta version as they don’t know about the contents of the CD/DVD. But by March next year they will find out the reality,” said Gupta.

“Windows 7 will be very difficult to pirate due to the in-built security features. It will take a while before pirates are able to crack the codes for this OS,” informed KK Jha of Delhi-Based KK Software. According to him, while piracy of Windows 7 is definitely not happening in Delhi, it is probably the beta version that is doing the rounds in Lucknow and other upcountry markets, and are being passed as pirated copies.

It is interesting to note that in the absence of the availability of Windows 7, the beta and trial versions are actually acting as honeypots to tempt customers to purchase it. Microsoft has openly provided the beta version till March 2010, and its 30-day trial version, called ‘Rearm’ can be run three times, giving customers a total of 120 days to use the OS. “This strategy will enhance the business of Microsoft from March-April 2010 onwards, as people who are using the beta and trial version will get hooked to Windows 7 and they will want to purchase it,” stated Gupta.

On the other hand, Sudarsan Ranganathan of Chennai-based Veeras Infotek said that he has read about the piracy of Windows 7 in China, three weeks before the official launch. “It is a possibility as there may be a few cracked codes. Microsoft is taking it pretty seriously and they have been imparting lots of education about the ill-effects of piracy,” said Ranganathan.

Giving details about the delay in availability of Windows 7 in India, Gupta explained, “As per the rules understood by distributors, the Finance Minister had announced during the budget that with effect Sep 1, 2009, software importers will be given tax exemption provided that they give assurance to the custom duty that they will charge service tax. Since this is the first consignment in which Windows is being imported in such a manner, it is bound to take the custom department some time to understand what all documents are required for the process so that that can be the mandate henceforth. As the situation stands, the first lot of documents have been provided, and by the end of next week, shipments will start.”

Speaking about the menace of piracy, Anil Sethi, group director—OEM, Microsoft India mentioned, “XP was prone to piracy because it was in the market for a long time and the people involved in such activities had developed skills for the same. Windows 7 is embedded with security features that decrease the chances of copying the software.”

On the availability of pirated Windows 7 software, Vipul Sant, director—Original Software Initiative, Microsoft India said, “Over the last two months we have been tracking the sale of Windows 7 pirated CDs by collecting samples from across the country. 12 percent of all the samples included Windows XP, Windows 98 and other software development tools sold as Windows 7. Also, we found that 88 percent samples were Windows 7 beta versions that had already expired on August 1, 2009. Moreover, none of these samples of Windows 7 could get installed. We will continue to keep a watch on the markets for non-beta versions of Windows 7, collect samples and take action as appropriate.”

Sant added that as per a recent report by KPMG correlation coefficient between software piracy rates and malware attacks is a strong 0.74, which means that consumers using non-genuine software run a huge risk of malware attacks. Some direct impacts can involve loss of data confidentiality and integrity which can turn into a financial or reputation loss, as well as, reduced operational performance”

On the adoption of Windows 7, Sant stated, “We feel very good about Windows 7, which has already received very positive feedback from users. We are making great traction on important attributes that drive preference for our customers. During the last nine months, our key focus has been to ready the ecosystem for Windows 7. Some of the key readiness initiatives undertaken include: Deep engagement with OEM, Retail towards Windows 7 launch; Conducted channel roadshow across 16 cities; IT Pro / Developer engagement though 16 city TechNet roadshow and several Hands on Labs; Engagement with 290 ISVs (40 depth + 250 breadth) towards launch readiness and Over 1,500 business customers already in the process of deploying Windows 7.