Microsoft: Unlicensed Office use is rife

by admin October 31, 2006 at 3:48 am

Microsoft claimed on Monday that it was forced to change the way it enforces its software licensing, after detecting evidence of widespread use of unlicensed copies of Office.

As many as a third of Office packages could be unlicensed, the company said.

The figures came from to Michala Alexander, Microsoft’s head of anti-piracy, who told ZDNet UK that the figure of 33 percent is for UK users. It is the percentage of people who voluntarily registered to use Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) and found that they did not have a genuine copy of Office.

“It is a very high percentage when you consider that the rate for Windows is just 12 percent,” said Alexander. “And when you consider that the BSA’s (Business Software Alliance) figure for all software is 27 percent.”

Read more: ZDNet UK