Microsoft Germany, eBay crack down on software piracy
By
John Blau
,
IDG News Service
, 08/03/2006
- Share/Email
- Tweet This
- Print
The German subsidiaries of Microsoft and eBay are intensifying their collaboration on preventing software piracy, threatening to sue individuals who sell illegally
copied software.
"We've been working with eBay since 2002 to track down and prosecute groups and individuals organized as commercial entities
that have tried to sell illegal copies of our software over the Internet," said Thomas Baumgärtner, a spokesman at Microsoft
Deutschland GmbH. "Now we've decided to intensify this cooperation to include private individuals who attempt to sell illegal
copies of our software."
The collaboration with eBay is not a corporate-wide initiative but rather an effort by Microsoft's German subsidiary to battle
software piracy in a country that, only a few years ago, suffered from one of Europe's highest levels of software piracy,
according to Baumgärtner.
Germany's share of illegally copied software dropped 2% to 27% in 2005, reducing software vendors' estimated loss of revenue
by €300 million ($384 million) to a total €1.5 billion, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA). It was the first
drop in software piracy in Germany since BSA started publishing figures on the German market in 1999.
"We decided it was not enough to go just after commercially organized groups but also private individuals who try to make
money on eBay with software they've illegally copied," Baumgärtner said.
Microsoft has taken numerous commercially organized groups to court over software piracy allegations and sued for damages
in civil suits, according to Baumgärtner. "Now we plan to do the same with private individuals," he said.
The German subsidiary has a special group of people monitoring the eBay Web site, looking for possible software pirates and
making "test purchases" to confirm product authenticity.
Customers who detect foul play or are concerned that they may have illegal copies can send their products directly to Microsoft's
Product Identification Service (PID), Baumgärtner said.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
Partner Content
Blue Stripe Software
www.bluestripe.com/
Improving Application Performance Troubleshooting
Diagnosing why an application is slow is hard, at times taking days or weeks to isolate and resolve. This paper explains the challenges involved using current management tools, provides a 'wish list' for application management and analysis, and explains the need for an application system-wide approach that monitors entire applications, not components.
Download Whitepaper
Virtual Vigilance: Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments
This paper highlights the impact of virtualization on application performance. "Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments" states: "Best-in-Class organizations are predominately taking actions around improving visibility across both physical and virtual systems, assessing the business impact of application performance and understanding interdependencies of applications in virtualized environments."
Download Whitepaper
Application Service Requests: The Missing Link for Pragmatic ITSM
Forrester Research analyst Glenn O'Donnell and BlueStripe co-founder Vic Nyman discuss a breakthrough approach to application problem management. Learn the new approach for ITSM problem management, which provides: Rapid isolation of application slow-downs to specific components for quick problem resolution, 24/7 monitoring for proactive notification of potential issues before end users are impacted and much more.
Register for Webcast
Comment