Microsoft uses buying patterns to nail piracy

Microsoft has claimed that analysis of resellers’ software buying patterns can help it to detect potential counterfeit sales.

The software giant currently has multiple initiatives in place designed to help it reduce piracy associated with its products, such as Windows XP. The vendor is aiming to reduce the UK Windows XP piracy rate by five per cent through education and enforcement.

However, Michala Alexander, UK head of anti-piracy at Microsoft, told CRN that by identifying reseller purchasing patterns through distribution, anomalies can be highlighted and investigated.

“Distributors can see their sales dip when a reseller suddenly stops buying our software from them,” she said. “However, if the VAR is still selling Microsoft software some months later, then we can investigate to see where they are getting it from and make sure it’s still genuine.”

Andy Dow, commercial director of Microsoft Authorised distributor Westcoast, said: “Every distributor gives a feed to their vendors on what volumes of their hardware or software they have sold in a set period.

“So what Microsoft is doing is nothing new in that sense, and it’s up to Microsoft what it does with the figures,” he said.

In addition, last week Microsoft filed 55 lawsuits around the globe, including five in the UK, against online resellers that have allegedly sold counterfeit Microsoft software through auction web sites such as eBay (CRN Online, 31 October).

Many of those caught were identified through tip-offs submitted through Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme, which allows end-users to authenticate their Microsoft software online.

“Our channel partners are the ones we are trying to support and their businesses are the ones getting affected by these counterfeit sales,” Alexander said.

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