Microsoft Sues Pirates, Says Counterfeits Pose RiskMicrosoft Sues Pirates, Says Counterfeits Pose Risk

Microsoft said Tuesday it has filed 20 lawsuits against resellers in nine states who have sold counterfeit Windows and Office products, and cited forensic evidence to make its case that pirated software poses a risk to users.

The Redmond, Wash. developer accused companies in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas of distributing counterfeit software or engaging in "hard-disk loading," the term for the installation of unlicensed software on computers later sold to consumers of businesses.

"We want to make it clear to people who try to profit illegally," Microsoft senior attorney Mary Jo Schrade said in a statement. "We devote significant resources to helping ensure the integrity of the software marketplace and will not sit by as consumers are put at risk and honest resellers are hurt."

According to Microsoft, the resellers were fingered by people using its phone tip line, 800-RU-LEGIT, and through an associated e-mail address.

Microsoft also announced that forensic examination of nearly 350 counterfeit copies of Windows XP purchased in June showed that 1 in 3 could not be installed. The remainder, claimed the company, included tampered code that could "result in denial-of-service attacks, bypass of password protection and application memory corruption."

Of the 348 discs, 66 percent had additional software or code not included with legitimate copies of Windows, Microsoft said. More than 40 percent of the added programs had flaws of one kind or another, including code cloaked from the user.

The company has aggressively boosted its anti-piracy efforts in 2006, and with its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program, brought users into the fray by installing software on their PCs which sniffs out fake Windows.

In June, Microsoft bowed to pressure and revamped the WGA software so it didn't contact the company as frequently. It also downgraded the WGA installation from "critical" to "high priority" for users who had set Automatic Updates to both download and install patches and other updates.