With Vista, Microsoft Gets Tough on Piracy

Microsoft plans to release its long-delayed Windows Vista operating system to business customers in November and consumers in January. (By Daniel Acker -- Bloomberg News)

SEATTLE, Oct. 4 -- In an effort to curb software piracy, Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that people running an unlicensed copy of its future Windows Vista operating will initially be denied access to some of the most anticipated features of the operating system, including Windows Aero, an improved graphics technology.

If a legitimate copy is not bought within 30 days, the system's functions will be reduced further by restricting users to just the Web browser for an hour at a time, said Thomas Lindeman, Microsoft senior product manager.

Under that scenario, a person could use the browser to surf the Web, access documents on the hard drive or log onto Web-based e-mail. But the user would not be able to directly open documents from the computer desktop or run other programs, such as Outlook e-mail software, Lindeman said.

Microsoft said that it would not stop a computer running pirated Vista software from working completely and that it would continue to deliver critical security updates. Still, the much harsher tactics contrast Microsoft's earlier anti-piracy measures, which have involved instituting tougher piracy checks for Windows XP users who want free add-ons, such as anti-spyware programs. In most cases, these were seen as annoying rather than debilitating.

Analyst Roger Kay with Endpoint Technologies Associates said Microsoft has a right to curtail illegal distribution of its software. The new piracy measures, he said, "seem harsh only in comparison to how lenient it has been."

Nevertheless, Kay said he expects that the anti-piracy tactics will keep some people from upgrading to Vista from the current operating system, Windows XP.

"There will be an XP backlash, which is to say people clinging to XP in order to avoid this," he said.

Kay also does not expect the new piracy measures to be that effective against those who have built de facto businesses selling illegal Windows copies. But he thinks it will stop some lower-level piracy.

Windows Vista also will include more sophisticated technology for monitoring whether a system is pirated. For example, the system will be able to perform some piracy checks internally, without contacting Microsoft, Lindeman said.

Microsoft also is adding ways to more closely monitor for piracy among corporate users, who tend to buy licenses in bulk.

Microsoft plans to take similar measures with the forthcoming version of its Windows server software, dubbed "Longhorn," and to incorporate it into other products down the road.

The crackdown shows how much more seriously Microsoft has started taking Windows piracy, which for years has been extremely widespread in areas such as Russia and China. The Business Software Alliance, a software industry group, estimates that 35 percent of software installed on PCs worldwide is pirated.

In recent years, the market for Windows, one of Microsoft's biggest revenue producers, has become more saturated. That has left the company eager to make money from users who may otherwise have obtained illegal copies of the operating system.

Cori Hartje, director of Microsoft's Genuine Software Initiative, said the company wants users to notice the difference between legal and pirated copies of Vista.

"Our goal is to really make a differentiated experience for genuine and non-genuine users," Hartje said.

After many delays, Microsoft is expected to release Vista to businesses in November and consumers in January.