Peter Griffin: Microsoft makes pirates walk the plank

If you're running a pirated copy of the Windows computer operating system, your illicit affair with the biggest software company in the world is about to end in tears.

In a new drive to stamp out the software piracy that is eating into its gigantic business, Microsoft is asking the tens of millions of Windows users to prove their copy of the software is genuine before they are allowed to receive any more automatic updates from the Microsoft website.

So if your copy of Windows came on a blank CD from a mate up the road, chances are you'll be refused access next time you try to download the latest new additions to Windows.

Will this drive masses of computer users into the arms of Linux, the open-source computer operating system you can download for free? Probably not. Linux is still too fiddly for those who use Windows day in, day out. With 90 per cent of the world's computers running Windows, that's most of us.

Despite the use of product keys and online authentication, there are still ways to use cracked versions of popular software packages such as Windows XP, Norton Internet Security and Adobe Premiere.

The pirate software and the cracked keys float around on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

If Microsoft's new authentication system is watertight, it'll eat into piracy. For those with dodgy copies of Windows, not having any software updates won't matter too much for a while. I'm still not running XP Service Pack 2 and there are a number of updates that Microsoft suggests that I've stayed away from.

But eventually, your estrangement from Microsoft will kill off your bogus operating system as ever-demanding technology requirements and changes on the web make it harder to do anything other than open MS Office or browse files in Windows Explorer.

Vetting Windows users is part of the Windows Genuine Advantage Programme (microsoft.com/genuine) that Microsoft has been running unofficially for some time but has now switched on for all Windows updates.

About 40 million Windows users have already been verified as having the genuine article since last September. Microsoft isn't saying how many it has turned away.

The process is pretty painless if you're a paid-up, genuine Microsoft customer. My software was given a big tick in a matter of seconds. The process downloads an ActiveX control to your computer that checks the authenticity of your software.

If Microsoft validates you, a key is downloaded to your computer that is cross-referenced with a key embedded in Windows updates.

Microsoft will replace pirated software with genuine versions free of charge if you submit a piracy report and proof of purchase. If you don't have proof of purchase, you'll get a discount on genuine Windows software.

There have already been grumblings that Microsoft is simply trying to assert its dominance in the operating system market.

But consider this. By a range of estimates, including Microsoft's own figures, about a third of its software is pirated.

That's potentially billions of dollars in lost revenue, enough to have the new book-keeper at Microsoft, New Zealander Chris Liddell, screaming for tighter thumbscrews on pirates.

Consider this also. The giant of Redmond, Washington, is experiencing the slowest year of revenue growth since it listed on the stock exchange - just 9 per cent growth. Microsoft is probably about as low as you can go in the trough between new software releases. Its new operating system, Windows Vista, is slated for a release late next year. That will be five years after the release of Windows XP, its last major platform release.

Microsoft has churned out a lot of software since the release of XP, but nothing that moves units in the same way as a new desktop operating system release does. Anything the company can claw back in sales has to be appreciated.

Next year will be a massive year for Microsoft with Windows Vista and its gaming console Xbox 360 hitting the market. It will again enjoy its "double-digit" growth.

Anything that forces users to finally invest in genuine software is cream on top for Microsoft.

But to save its operating system from being plagued with security exploits, Microsoft won't stop anyone from downloading security patches. Many of the biggest denial-of-service attacks on the internet have been blamed on computer servers carrying insecure, pirated Microsoft software. Leaving pirated copies of Windows increasingly vulnerable isn't going to do the company any favours.

But its piracy push shows what we're all in for in terms of future software use - regular online checks to make sure we're genuine. That's fine if we're getting good value out of the software we're investing in, and hopefully, more genuine users will lead to cheaper Windows for all.