Software giant extands WGA programme in the UK to crack down on software piracy

Microsoft has stepped up its crackdown on sales of counterfeit Windows software by expanding its pilot Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme to the UK.

As revealed by CRN online, WGA requires end-users to allow Microsoft to check remotely the authenticity of their Windows version. If WGA discovers a counterfeit version it then sends a pop-up notification to the end-user’s desktop, prompting them to verify their Windows software.

Michala Alexander, UK head of Microsoft’s anti-piracy programme, told CRN that users who do not validate their Windows copy will be locked out from some of the upgrades available to legitimate users, such as Windows Defender.

“WGA will have a massive impact on our VARs,” she said. “Dodgy VARs will have end-users asking them why they were sold counterfeit copies. Resellers that sell genuine copies will see a huge rise in sales.”

However, she added that end-users running counterfeit copies will not be locked out from all Windows updates.

“It’s like fighting a fire,” she said. “We will drop water bombs on all Windows users [to stop counterfeit copies], but this means we will also be giving fire extinguishers to users of genuine copies as well.”

The vendor said that its WGA pilot has been running in several countries since last year. It claimed that more than 150 million PC owners have participated in WGA so far.

However, Microsoft’s latest pilot expansion will cover five more countries, including the UK and the US.

Rob Jones, marketing manager at Microsoft VAR CMS Computers, told CRN that some Microsoft channel partners have been campaigning for similar initiatives for some time.

“WGA shows the real reasons for having a legitimate copy [of Windows], because a fake copy of Windows will not receive features such as security updates,” he said. “Hopefully this will push up sales of legitimate copies for Microsoft’s VARs.”