Microsoft slams hard disk loading - UK - This is not TEA Vista News Discuss Microsoft slams hard disk loading - UK - This is not TEA in the Windows Vista forums; Pre-installed unlicensed software threatens software giant's business Laura Hailstone, CRN 30 Apr 2007 The illegal practice of hard disk loading is rapidly becoming the number one issue for ...

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Pre-installed unlicensed software threatens software giant's business

Laura Hailstone, CRN 30 Apr 2007

The illegal practice of hard disk loading is rapidly becoming the number one issue for Microsoft’s channel partners, overtaking pirated software as a top revenue stealer.

Hard disk loading involves unlicensed software being pre-installed on a PC. The perpetrators buy one legal copy of a software program and install it on multiple machines.

Michala Alexander, UK head of anti-piracy at Microsoft, told CRN: “We had a three-year target to reduce the piracy rate of Windows XP by five per cent. This time last year the piracy rate was 16.7 per cent and today it is 12.9 per cent..

In the past three months we have been tipped off on 157 resellers that have carried out hard disk loading.

http://www.vnunet.com/crn/news/21888...lams-hard-disk