Top > Webmaster > 2006 > November > 2006-11-01

Microsoft Targets Office Plagiarists

Microsoft, the software giant known all over the world by computer users and webmasters alike, has introduced a voluntary way for users to ensure that they only use licensed and legal copies of Microsoft Office products. Now, because of this step taken by Microsoft, users who are caught using software that cannot be proved to be genuinely authentic and 100 percent legal will not gain access to add-ons and updates from the company.

Office Online templates downloaded from within Microsoft Office System 2007 applications have to be validated from now on. As of January 2007, Office Update must also be validated by Office Genuine Advantage (OGA). Before they can proceed, if the Microsoft Office application they have does not pass a validation test, webmasters and users who are denied access to the applications, will need to prove their software is valid.

According to Microsoft, it will ?continue to provide a complimentary copy of Microsoft Office to help qualifying customers who unknowingly acquired counterfeit versions of Microsoft Office 2003.? However, users and webmasters alike will need to ?fill out a counterfeit report, provide proof of purchase and send in their counterfeit CDs? to present proof of their entitlement to a free replacement copy of Office. It seems all of the major companies are working hard to prevent copyright infringement and plagiarism among computer and Internet users. This new service will surely have an impact on how Microsoft Office will be used in the future.