By silicon.com, 4 March 2004 12:40
NEWS 04.03.99: Microsoft fired another round in its anti-piracy war yesterday, filing 19 lawsuits against alleged US software pirates.
The software giant is accusing the companies - all based in Los Angeles, California or Chicago, Illinois - of selling illegal copies of Office and Windows software.
It is the first time Microsoft has filed an anti-piracy suit in Illinois, but the company claims Southern California has become something of a centre for illegal software. Last month $30m worth of illegal Microsoft software was seized in the break-up of a Californian piracy ring.
04.03.04: Microsoft is by far the biggest name in the world of software piracy. Its products are ripped off more than any other company's and the war on piracy is one it must wage daily and eternally.
The Business Software Alliance claims that in the Far East about 90 per cent of software is pirated. In the UK, that figure is about 25 per cent and in both cases it is Microsoft that dominates the in-demand products being pirated.
But this situation - while it doubtless dents Microsoft's already colossal revenues - is worse for the smaller vendors, whose fight against piracy is hampered in part by the public perception of piracy as a Microsoft-only issue. Many have adopted a 'Bill Gates has got enough money already' attitude.
That thinking makes it very difficult for independent developers to gain public sympathy and increase awareness of the harm that piracy can do to their livelihood.
The BSA is also keen to educate users about the ways in which revenues from piracy are spent. Often software piracy is directly linked to the far more serious criminal activities of organised gangs.
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