Microsoft steps up anti-piracy war

Guilty resellers named and shamed

Microsoft has vowed to continue naming and shaming UK resellers caught using pirated software.

The software giant, which launched more than 1,000 cases against UK resellers earlier this year, has claimed that it will continue to be tough on unscrupulous channel partners.

A number of UK resellers last week reached an out-of-court settlement with Microsoft. All of the companies involved were caught with pirated copies of Windows and Office products, and made undisclosed payments to Microsoft.

These included: Planet IT, Nouveau Solutions, Avon Business Machines, Alpha Technologies Software, 3TH, The Monitor Shop, Proband, TCL Technology and SADS.

Microsoft has also issued legal proceedings against two other resellers, Netagrated and Database Computers.

Julia Phillpot, UK anti-piracy manager at Microsoft, said: "Piracy takes business away from legitimate channels." She added that $6bn worth of counterfeit products were seized worldwide in the past year alone.

"In some cases resellers aren't aware that the product is counterfeit as there are some very convincing fakes on the market. Therefore we prefer to work with people out of court and come to a mutually advantageous agreement," she said.

"Basically, we recommend resellers buy through authorised distributors to avoid this problem," she added. However, Microsoft provides a product authentication service for those concerned about products bought through other channels.

Channel partners seemed to support the naming and shaming campaign. Dave Reynolds, business development manager at independent software vendor and Microsoft partner Star Computers, said: "If a reseller is caught with illegal software, it deserves to be publicly humiliated.

"Its actions have a huge impact on end-users who are left without the necessary services and support provided with legitimate software.

"Many smaller resellers take the view that they are too small to be caught, which is not the case."