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Microsoft The Almighty Buck Your Rights Online

Microsoft Cracking Down On Indian Retailers 427

Posted by kdawson from the local-differences dept.
slashthedot writes "Microsoft caught some Indian retailers selling pirated copies of Windows by sending in a dummy customer to ask for a copy of Windows to be installed on their PC. The dealers claim that they are promoting MS software in this way. One retailer said: 'Since we are are not charging anything extra for installing the software, it means that we are actually not trading in pirated software. For us this is just a sewa (selfless act) that we are offering to our customers. Besides, the pricing of their operating systems is way too high for the Indian markets.'"
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Microsoft Cracking Down On Indian Retailers More

Microsoft Cracking Down On Indian Retailers

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  • If m$ is too pricey (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ultracool ( 883965 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:18PM (#19202703)
    Why don't they just install Linux?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by revengebomber ( 1080189 )
      I'll give you a hint: it starts in m, and ends in onopoly. If they were to install Linux, they'd face the same compatibility issues as if they were in the US.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Well then Linux should be designed for windows compatibility. The only way Linux can take over is by providing a seamless transition to the point where it doesn't matter what application you need, your data will be accessible from both operating systems. Then, and only then Linux can excel. $$$ for windows, or $0 for linux. They both do the same thing give or take, they are compatible, the apps are cross platform, and it just comes down to money.

      • Re:If m$ is too pricey (Score:5, Insightful)

        by kcbrown ( 7426 ) <slashdot@sysexperts.com> on Sunday May 20, 2007 @09:43PM (#19203367)

        I'll give you a hint: it starts in m, and ends in onopoly. If they were to install Linux, they'd face the same compatibility issues as if they were in the US.

        It all depends on who they need interoperability with.

        In the U.S., most businesses that run Microsoft do so after having paid for it. Microsoft maintains its monopoly largely through inertia. The market is already well-established and isn't growing much, so compatibility with everyone else becomes the primary reason for choosing one piece of software over another. In the U.S., the compatibility requirements are already set and basically aren't going to change much. People run pirated copies in the U.S. in order to maintain that compatibility.

        But India is more like an emerging market than an established one. That means there's a lot of room for growth, and thus a lot of room for choice. The compatibility requirements aren't as firmly set as they are in the U.S. market because the ratio of existing players to future players is much smaller.

        The end result is that in India, if vendors like the one in the article really did sell Windows instead of giving it away and also offered Linux as the free alternative, the market would almost certainly choose Linux over Windows, and "compatibility" would wind up meaning compatibility with Linux, not with Windows, because as the vendor noted in the article, Windows is simply too expensive for most people to afford over there. In other words, the price of compatibility with the U.S. market would be too high for the Indian market to bear, and the Indian market would thus go its separate way.

        And Microsoft would, as a result, lose an entire market. If the majority of people in India ran Linux because the price of Windows is too high, new players in the market would at that point have no particular reason to choose Windows at that point even if it were made free, because the primary compelling reason people run Windows is for compatibility with others in the market (which includes support and other benefits of compatibility). In this scenario, Linux would have the primary compatibility/support edge as well as the price edge, so Windows would be completely uncompetitive in the market.

        That scenario is the one that Microsoft fears the most. Very few of Microsoft's products can win on their merits, so the dominance of Windows and the compatibility requirements of the market are really the only things keeping Microsoft in their dominant position. A market in which Windows isn't the dominant operating system is a market that Microsoft will probably do poorly in.

        The bottom line is that for the Indian market, Linux is a much stronger contender than it is in the U.S. market, and it's only because of the ability (if not legality) of vendors such as the one in the article to give away Windows that Windows can do well in that market.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by delire ( 809063 )
      I'm a Linux user of many years and can answer that question as easily as you can.

      Unsettling as it may sound, there is obviously not (yet) enough demand. It is not their job to push an OS onto people. They are not in the business of creating new markets; they are meeting popular demand. Of course they are feeding the status quo - Linux is beside their point.

    • Would be nice, wouldn't it? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by khasim ( 1285 ) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:24PM (#19202749)
      In fact, Microsoft BENEFITS from such "piracy".

      If the customers could not afford Windows and had to go with something like Ubuntu, then more people would become familiar with Linux ... and Microsoft would LOSE those customers.

      This is going to happen, eventually, anyway. Microsoft has 90%+ of the workstation market. There's not many ways they can get money out of that market anymore.

      Except by re-selling Windows to those same people. Again and again and again.
      • In fact, Microsoft BENEFITS from such "piracy".

        Regardless of whether or not that is true, Microsoft certainly does not think so by their actions.

        • Re:Would be nice, wouldn't it? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by CosmeticLobotamy ( 155360 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @09:10PM (#19203109)
          Regardless of whether or not that is true, Microsoft certainly does not think so by their actions.

          "Some guys are taking our software without paying for it."
          "That helps us. Network effects and stuff."
          "Great! So we'll tell everyone to just go ahead and make all the copies they like."
          "No, dumbass. Then we get no money."
          "Okay, what if we just don't say anything?"
          "We're real popular, and people will figure out pretty quick that we don't do anything if they copy it, and we'll lose a ton of money."
          "How about we quietly enjoy the piracy while making a big show of going after a few of them so people still have that tiny, little bit of fear to keep them honest?"
          "Sounds good to me."
          • Gee... let's actually quote from the article:

            "... six PC dealers in Gujarat received notices from Microsoft for selling pirated copies of Windows."
            "Microsoft demanding a payment of 200,000 Rupee ($4,955) and a fine of 1,600,000 Rupee ($39,638) if the vendor continued to sell pirated copies of the OS."
            "Microsoft conducted the raids ..."
            "... Microsoft India sees the raids as a firm, but loving hand; guiding the vendors to the world of IP ..."
            "Microsoft, though its own efforts in partnership with other
        • a user moving from pirate windows to legitimate windows is a gain for MS (obviously)
          a user moving from pirate windows to linux is a loss for MS (because it helps the mindshare of linux which in turn helps it into places that DO pay for the propietry software they use)

          clamping down on piracy is obviously going to do both to some degree, which is more significant in a particular case is very hard to calculate.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by 1u3hr ( 530656 )
          >>In fact, Microsoft BENEFITS from such "piracy".
          >Regardless of whether or not that is true, Microsoft certainly does not think so by their actions.

          Actually, MS's actions, as opposed to their words, show the opposite. MS will fulminate about software piracy, but in most Third World countries takes little action to prevent it. They know that in the long run, retaining a monopoly on OS and Office software is more valuable. When a country starts to take off economically, as India, its business and

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by zxnos ( 813588 )
        wait, i am confused, how is not paying for a product being a customer?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Firehed ( 942385 )
          Vendor lock-in. You know, for whenever they do get that un-pirateable version of Windows out there, and you have all those documents that just can't be opened with free software for whatever reason. Or something like that.

          Well... maybe not over there, but at least in places where the BSA will come in and kick your ass. Think Photoshop here - I haven't bought a copy, but if I ever use it professionally, I will, rather than just using a copy of the GIMP or some other 'equivalent'.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Oswald ( 235719 )
        In fact, Microsoft BENEFITS from such "piracy".

        Until I read this story, I had always assumed that MS understood this fact. Now I see that, as in so many other things, they were just lucky.

        I doubt that there would even be a Microsoft monopoly today without the lock-in caused by over two decades of pirated copies of DOS and Windows* If they keep this act up, they're in for big trouble in the developing world.

    • no kidding... any artist will tell you that they'd rather have their works appreciated and known rather than be rich. I think this is the reason Apple software is the way it is, if you want something, and it's good enough, you'll toss a few bucks to the R&D team.

      so basically, having;

      1) a R&D dept that's better named search and steal
      2) no vision, and
      3) terrible track record (outside of shitty software as well)

      is there any wonder why people rip off M$ at every opportunity they get?

      joe six pack thinks

    • Re:If m$ is too pricey (Score:5, Interesting)

      by robgig1088 ( 1043362 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:47PM (#19202953)
      I was talking to one of my friends (who happens to be from India) the other day about computers. I mentioned that I use Linux and he was absolutely amazed and asked me why I would do that. Linux is considered the poor-man's operating system and most computers that come with it are wiped and a pirated version of Windows is installed. I'm still trying to grasp the reasoning behind it, other than I think Linux has the reputation as "too poor for Windows"

      • Re:If m$ is too pricey (Score:5, Interesting)

        by jchandra ( 15040 ) on Monday May 21, 2007 @01:51AM (#19205197) Homepage
        I'm an Indian, and I can tell you that your information is wrong.

        Linux is not considered a poor man's OS. It is just that most of the software here is pirated and available almost free, that people don't have the incentive to learn Linux, except the technically oriented people.

        I've seen people buying high end systems (about 800$), from local dealers with pirated window xp, ms office and loads of cracked games, and 1000s of mp3s all free as part of the deal.

        In big cities like Bangalore they have started cracking down on people selling pirated CDs.

        • Re:If m$ is too pricey (Score:5, Insightful)

          by muuh-gnu ( 894733 ) on Monday May 21, 2007 @04:52AM (#19206079)
          > Linux is not considered a poor man's OS.

          It is. The poorer a society, the more it values products they otherwise could not buy. If you are not a professional, who can judge the value of a product by its quality, the price is the only distinction. So Windows is perceived like something that costs "hundreds of US Dollars!!" and Linux as nearly worthless, so if price is the only criterion, getting Windows for free (or for $% on a pirated CD) is a way better deal like Linux for free (or god forbid, $5 for a CD). Ten years ago, when the net was still in its infancy, I knew people who danced around when they after hours an hours of downloading with a 56k modem, managed to get photoshop & Co, because "it cost $2000". They surely wouldnt have danced around after downloading a free software like Gimp, even if they needed it only for cutting their photographs and changing brightness and contrasts. They also wouldn't have valued Photoshop or Windows so much if the $2000 was a spare change for them, but would have equally evaluated every product which comes into question for a given task.

          >> "I mentioned that I use Linux and he was absolutely amazed and asked me why I would do that."

          He was absolutely amazed because the GP deliberately used something that was "free" (aka worthless) instead of somethig that has a higher market value by several hundred of dollars, even when you can get the second one for free of the net. He most certainly did not know either windows or linux good enough to base his decision on product quality. He probably never tried Linux at all, because it was "so cheap" compared to windows.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by nareshov ( 1093611 )
        Linux is NOT considered the poor-man's OS. It's mostly the elite OS used by a bunch of college-goers. There aren't any computers which come with linux in India (excepting a few acer models which I doubt anyone buys). Most windows pcs are running pirated versions and they're mostly for gaming or, as the other parallel comment says, for .NET and windows specific programming.
    • For exactly this reason.

      When I was in Indonesia, a similar crackdown happend (by the government). The reaction by businesses was immediate and strong: develop roadmaps for migrating all possible systems to Linux.

      Full-page advertisements were seen in major newspapers advertising open source migration services.

      It was really interesting. Nearly every computerized business that I came in contact with asked me about Linux and how suited it would be for their work.

      Yes, a lot of them will install Linux.
    • Your shouldn't say that like a question. If Windows is too costly, their only choice is Linux.

      They should have seen this coming. Microsoft always tracks down retailers offering unofficial copies of their software and even offers official copies or rewards to people who dob in such retailers.

      If they wanted to avoid trouble with the law, they could have just installed Ubuntu. Yes, their customers might prefer Windows, but Ubuntu is the only legal option that they are free to install.

  • linux (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wizardforce ( 1005805 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:21PM (#19202727) Journal
    MS needs to tread carefully... aw screw it.. ironically if they make the argument that pirating is wrong it opens the door to linux. 2 billion people * even a small percentage = ALOT.

  • Sad. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Jordan (jman) ( 212384 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:23PM (#19202737)
    While I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft or their products, this is quite blatant piracy. I work for a computer repair shop where we get customers asking us to do stuff like this all the time, but it is the same as stealing one off the shelf. Any tech in my shop would be fired instantly for doing something like this. The golden rule is, if you can't afford it then don't buy it. I would be going after them too if I was Microsoft. These are companies pretty much promoting piracy.

     

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Agreed.

      Plus I don't think anybody on slashdot would believe that putting Windows on somebody's computer is a "selfless act".

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by QuantumG ( 50515 )

      it is the same as stealing one off the shelf.
      It's not. You know it is not, and there are plenty of other reasons why you should advocate an alternative to your customers.

      Of course, I'm sure, like most PC repair shops, you don't offer any other OS solutions than Microsoft.

      • I am trying to *avoid* offering too many services for Microsoft OS's. But I cant quite avoid it.

        More than half my work these days is for Linux.

    •       I think it's appropriate for US companies to send jobs over to India and China for cheap labor and then find out that the cheap labor isn't going to buy their products, nor the Anericans whose jobs were offshored who are usually making much less.

            The more they do it, the less customers they will have.

        rd

    • Define Sad (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Nymz ( 905908 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @09:01PM (#19203037) Journal
      Here are a few definitions from words used in the article...

      Indian Market - A place where Windows is priced too high to consider paying for, but where GNU/Linux is too (blank) to even consider installing at no cost at all.

      Raid - Pretending to be a normal customer, asking for a free copy of Windows, then mailing a Cease & Desist letter a month later. Very similiar to sending dozens of men to jump out of a van, and seizing all software and hardware.

      Boycott - When you declare that you will stop purchasing from a particular company. It is not important that you weren't buying from them in the first place, the point is to make a distraction and take the focus off yourself. Remember, in the news, it's not who is right or wrong, it's who can successfully portray themselves as the victim.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Zemran ( 3101 )
      this is quite blatant piracy

      They came swing in through the windows with cutlasses in their teeth did they?

      The average person in India earns less in a year than you earn in a month and there is no way that they can afford to 'buy' a genuine copy of windows. In the west, we have got so used to the claptrap that surrounds overpricing cartelles that we have even adopted their propaganda (i.e. piracy). You can afford to pander to this extortion but someone else in India, Thailand, China etc. cannot. You are w

      • The average person in India earns less in a year than you earn in a month and there is no way that they can afford to 'buy' a genuine copy of windows.

        And, yet, they can afford to buy the PC on which to run the pirated (suggest another fucking word, by the way, if you don't like that one - someone says "stolen" they get jumped, someone says "pirated" and an asshat like you chimes in [/parenthetical rant]) software? Times are tough all over, aren't they?

        I've pirated software before and I'll do it again (l

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Doctor_Jest ( 688315 ) *
          They infringed on Microsoft's copyright. They did not profit from it.... nor did they make anything more than something a college student does for his pals.
          In order to maintain that there is damage (hence criminal infringement), these people have to be able to buy the software if said copy-service wasn't in place.
          Since the average person over there can't call ma (like the college students) to get the money for the copy, how is this a loss for Microsoft? If there wasn't a copy-service set up to put windows
    • I do not agree that giving away software of music or movies IS piracy. I think selling illegitimate copies of software, music, movies, etc as if they are genuine IS piracy, but if there is no money involved, by my morals, it is not wrong.

      I know the laws have been bent to treat "intellectual property" ( the term in itself is offensive to me ) as real property, but is see no harm in trading or giving it away.

      I have heard the argument that it denies money to the copyright holder, but has anyone considered tha

    • Re:Sad. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hjf ( 703092 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @10:26PM (#19203685) Homepage

      The golden rule is, if you can't afford it then don't buy it. I would be going after them too if I was Microsoft. These are companies pretty much promoting piracy

      Let's see, I assume you are an american. You see, not everyone in the world makes the same as you americans do. Not all of us (myself included, I live in Argentina) can afford to spend 2 to 3 months salary on Windows. And microsoft doesn't help either. They have this flat-price policy, all over the world. You *may* begin to understand us, blatant pirates, the day Microsoft charged USD 6000 for a copy of Windows. But that isn't going to happen, as Microsoft even offers discounts to students, of course those discounts are available for USA only (and a few selected european countries).

      The problem is their monopoly. Someone who tries to find any job nowadays is required to know Windows (let's not enter the Linux argument, please). Just take my word for it.

      Microsoft tried to "help" the situation a little by releasing the "starter" editions: crippled versions of their software for less money. Personally, I see that as an insult. You see, I go to the movies every now and then. Last year I went to see "The Da Vinci Code", the same day it was released in my country (may 18). I paid $5 (that's 5 pesos, or USD 1,80) to watch the movie. It wasn't a pirated divx, it wasn't a crippled down, shorter, lower-quality version of the movie. It wasn't even a cheaper remake. It was the same movie that was released in the US one day later (movies are released on Thursdays in my country). It wasn't a crappy cinema either. It had air conditioning, a big screen, surround sound, nice seats, popcorn, coca cola, and everything else. So, how can the movie industry charge 1/5 to 1/10 what they charge in the US, and still profit, while Microsoft refuses to do so?

      One time someone answered "because people would buy an imported copy of Windows and pay less for it". Yeah, right. I'd love to see an american with their brand-new cheap copy of Windows, in Spanish. Or some indic language even.
    • My basic theory (born out as I have seen in other countries):

      Given a choice of free of charge software, people usually always pick those they perceive to be the industry leaders. When they have to pay for that software (especially when the real income equivalent, i.e. hours of labor to pay for it, is high), they have to slow down and ask what they need.

      Piracy thus reduces the effective size of the total market. People aren't forced to decide whether to pay for new copies of the software, so they pick what they think is the path of least resistance. Add cost, and these people are brought back into the market and have to choose.

      When I worked at Microsoft, I used to say that we had to do something about piracy because, "Piracy is anticompetitive and it hurts our competitors even more than it hurts us." I got a wide range of reactions from that statement. If there was no piracy of Windows, Microsoft *might* make a little more money. But I guarantee you, there would be a *lot* more Linux use out there too. Heck, there might even be more users of OS X...

      I personally think we all need to do what we can to discourage software piracy. I think it is the greatest obstacle out there to the total dominance of open source software.

  • A solid legal argument (Score:5, Funny)

    by carou ( 88501 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:24PM (#19202757) Homepage Journal

    Since we are are not charging anything extra for installing the software, it means that we are actually not trading in pirated software
    I wonder if YouTube's lawyers will use that watertight legal argument in their Viacom case...

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by asninn ( 1071320 )
      Copyright law isn't the same all over the world. Sure, this kind of argument probably wouldn't float in the USA, but can you really say whether there's any merit to it in India?

  • can we get the hahaha tag back now? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by zappepcs ( 820751 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:28PM (#19202791) Journal
    This is so illustrative of why MS' business model is wrong. It totally illustrates why F/OSS software is the way forward for the world in general. Charging for software licenses is just not right. Buying the right to use something is a rental agreement and when MS Windows and other software falls under the same laws as rental agreements... well, then I will sort of agree with them. As long as they contend that 'buying' a copy of Windows is only a right to use... well, they are open to abuse and such. Too bad for them. they chose the wrong business model... I have no sympathy.

    Going further, while MS would like to enforce their monopoly, it is clear that the world's population is clearly not in alignment with their wishes. This would seem to indicate that either MS is wrong or the laws are wrong. Pick whichever you want, but the dichotomy is clear.

    Personally, I hope that MS loses this one, not just because I wish them ill fortune (and I do) but because clearly in this situation they are pricing themselves out of the market. That business strategy is coming back to bite them in the ass, as it should, and will.
    • When MS enforces, people will be forced to turn elsewhere.

      Otherwise, MS gets adopted wholly, until the market is 100% MS. Enforcing a MS lock-in there, also enforces it in other places of the world.

      The way to freedom will be paved by MS tightening its Iron Grip in this area. It will cause short-term incovenienc, but it is good in the long run.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by maxume ( 22995 )
      Strangely, they aren't pricing themselves out of the market. There is some revenue that they think they aren't getting due to unlicensed copying of their software, but they are still ending up with a large portion of the market using their software.

      I have to disagree with your analysis though. No matter what you think of Windows, it is a better operating system than I could write for the amount of effort I have to put forth to pay for a license to use it. It actually provides a great deal of functionality f

  • great... (Score:5, Funny)

    by owlnation ( 858981 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:28PM (#19202795)
    MS now stands for Mystery Shopper!
    • MS now stands for Mystery Shopper!

      OH NO, look what you've done to my mind!

      Shaggy: Look like we solved another software piracy mystery, Scoobs!
      Scooby: Ruff! Yeah!
      Indian computer retailer: And I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!
      Bill Gates: To the Mystery machine! I'll invite some scooby snacks!

  • huh? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Mazin07 ( 999269 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:30PM (#19202803) Homepage

    We are not against piracy but against the way Microsoft is working to stop it
    Are they essentially saying they promote piracy?

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      That's either a typo or translation mistake - I am sure they wanted to say they are not against *stopping* piracy..

  • Good. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RealGrouchy ( 943109 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:31PM (#19202817)
    If laws like this aren't enforced, how will the masses ever come to realize how stupid the laws are?

    - RG>

    • Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by trawg ( 308495 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @10:57PM (#19203971) Homepage
      Laws like, "you should pay money for other people's work, if that's how they want to provide it"? What's stupid about that?

      If you don't like Microsoft, fine - but saying that the laws are stupid because they want to charge for their work seems a little bit silly.

  • Another selfless act (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mazin07 ( 999269 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @08:32PM (#19202823) Homepage
    Thank god for the saints over at The Pirate Bay committing millions of thankless acts every day!
    Mother Theresa, eat your heart out.
    • Thank god for the saints over at The Pirate Bay committing millions of thankless acts every day! Mother Theresa, eat your heart out.

      That's Mother Teresa [wikipedia.org]. I don't know if it extends to that level, but we do teach our children to share, don't we? I doubt any parent or teacher has ever added or will add a "but only if it doesn't incur financial, civil or criminal penalties" qualifier.

      The reason we teach our children to share is that we know it invites good will. If you extend that notion and add to it the f

  • This has got to be the funniest of all things... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ... I had read in a while - Robinhood style!

    Seriously though MS should understand the very practical, priceless message the traders are giving them for free - Not many people in India could a) buy a branded PC and b) Buy a locally built one AND pay for the OS - Last I checked, XP Home was Rs. 4500 which is about 1/3rd the price of the full PC.

    For one it is nearly impossible for Microsoft to stop the piracy in countries like India and China - even though India has laws to deal with it, there is little there

  • Haha (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Austaph ( 893218 )

    We are the one who are promoting their products in the market and if they will behave in such a rash manner with us then we will stop business with them.
    Your dollars, which weren't even there to begin with, will not be missed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by QuantumG ( 50515 )
      They are promoting Microsoft's products.. and, frankly, I wish they'd stop it.

      This is why I've never been much opposed to "copy protection" for software. If people were required to pay for Microsoft products the prices would come down.

      • They are promoting Microsoft's products.. and, frankly, I wish they'd stop it.

        This is why I've never been much opposed to "copy protection" for software. If people were required to pay for Microsoft products the prices would come down.

        No. If people were required to pay for Microsoft, Adobe, etc. products, more people would use open source software.

        Maybe not everyone, but it would drastically increase the reachable market.

        This is going to be good and bad for Linux. Bad in the sense that people are going to confuse software that is available free of charge with piracy, and good in the sense that the truth will come out and Microsoft software will be seen as overpriced.

  • The more Microsoft tightens control the sale of Windows in the third world, the more they'll promote the use and development of Free alternatives.

    Not that they don't have a right to do it, of course, since anyone has the right to demand that their products not be pirated. It's just that in this case it will turn out to be quite negative for them.

    • I think Microsoft has a moral obligation to do this now. If they were to wait until the developing world depended heavily on Windows before they slammed them down and started enforcing their copyrights, that would be quite a nasty surprise.

      This way retailers know how it is going to be now and in the future.

  • I'm confused (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheWoozle ( 984500 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @09:07PM (#19203083)
    Since when is installing a Microsoft OS an act of kindness?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tribbin ( 565963 )
      To MS:
      The customer will not switch (and get used) to open software thus MS has more time to adjust their prices to India's market and retain their income.

      To customer:
      Does not have to ask an aquintence to burn the CD.

  • Retailer Backlash: No M$ Purchases for Quarter. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by twitter ( 104583 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @09:31PM (#19203279) Homepage Journal

    The crackdown is not nearly as interesting as the vendor reaction: a general strike against M$. They have a guild and 350 shops have boycotted a M$ training session and pledged to purchase nothing from M$ for the next quarter.

    350 dealers joined in a statewide bandh (that's a general strike) initiated by Surat-based South Gujarat Information Technologists Association (SITA). ... The resellers have also planned boycotts against Microsoft. Those participating in the strike agreed to stop all purchases of Microsoft products for this quarter.

    This is a real culture clash and M$ is going to lose. Compare it to Gandhi's Salt March to Dandi [wikipedia.org] and you can see where this is going. If M$'s $3 "education pack" is not good enough and they won't quit making alternate software difficult by vendor and driver manipulation, the people of the world will simply take what they want. M$ can no more stop this than the British Empire could keep people from taking salt from the sea.

    I'd rather they discovered free software. It would be better for them and they could more easily implement things like DVD playing and advanced video codecs than people endumbered by dumb laws like the DMCA. Using M$ leaves the user open to M$ violation down, powers the botnet and props up M$'s awefull non free formats.

    • Holy shit twitter, I think you just broke your own dollar sign world record in this post!

      They have a guild and 350 shops

      These people were not buying "M$" products to begin with, so please explain to us simple people how this "backslash" means "M$" is going to lose?

      Compare it to Gandhi's Salt March to Dandi

      That's ridiculous and insulting to all Indians, I'm sure.

      I'd rather they discovered free software.

      If "free software" means people like you taking advantage of things like these to exaggerate an

      • These people were not buying "M$" products to begin with, so please explain to us simple people how this "backslash" means "M$" is going to lose?

        If you had read the article, you would have seen that M$ thinks the vendors are important. If things work there as they do here, they are right.

        M$ is nothing without the support network everyone else provides. These 350 shops are their mainstay, for both their sales volume and their recommendations and fixes. Even here in the US, where people have enough mo

  • yeah (Score:5, Funny)

    by JustNiz ( 692889 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @10:02PM (#19203477)
    I've often thought microsoft software is only fit for the sewas.

  • International Pricing (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Sunday May 20, 2007 @10:07PM (#19203523) Journal
    "Besides, the pricing of their operating systems is way too high for the Indian markets."

    They want a cost-of-living price break for software, but we US programmers don't get a cost-of-living break when our jobs are sent to India due to our high cost-of-living. They want a double standard. (And programmers there are usually well off, often able to afford a maid.)
         
  • Microsoft Cracking Down On Indian Retailers

    How?

    (Thanks, I'll be here all week.)
  • quickly yell about how MS is just a big faceless mega corperation and it's ok to rip them off.

    pathetic people, this kind of thing doesn't hurt bill gates, it destroys the local legitimate companys.

  • The perfect name for an Indian Linux distro.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by the_rajah ( 749499 ) * on Sunday May 20, 2007 @10:58PM (#19203981) Homepage
    Sewa Linux.

  • Of course it's "selfless." (Score:4, Insightful)

    by trudyscousin ( 258684 ) * on Sunday May 20, 2007 @11:10PM (#19204057)
    "For us this is just a sewa (selfless act) that we are offering to our customers."

    Reminds me of a bartender giving free drinks to his friends. "No big deal to be generous with someone else's booze," his ex-boss said. (Paraphrased from an old Law & Order episode.)

    I'm certainly no MS fanboy, but I hope those retailers get nailed for this.

  • Interesting ethical situations here (Score:3, Interesting)

    by geek2k5 ( 882748 ) on Monday May 21, 2007 @02:20PM (#19211233)

    There are some interesting ethical situations here.

    While the 'selfless' act helps the customer directly, it robs the producer of what is being 'selflessly' given away, whether it is Microsoft, or a small software company. The people doing the distributing may be gaining 'karma' points on one side but are losing them on the other side of the transaction.

    The excuse of not being able to afford the 'real' product because of discrepancies in income between the United States and other countries has a lot of bearing here. In today's globalized world you need to keep up with current tech in order to succeed. If you can't afford it, then copying it can almost be rationalized.

    The rationalization falls apart when you reach the point that you want your own products protected on the global market. It is hard to demand IP protection when you are not doing a good job of protecting other people's products.

    To add another level of complexity to things, consider the fact that a lot of software businesses in the United States are creating service and research centers in places like India. While I trust that the businesses are buying legitimate copies of Windows and other software, are they keeping track of what their employees and subcontractors are doing? While these people may be making a lot more than the average citizen of India, the temptation of getting something 'free' might outweigh the ethically correct action of paying for it. (Of course there may be reduced cost programs that get hardware with legitimate software to this subgroup. But being in the United States, I don't hear of them.)

    Ideally, everybody should be held to the same ethical standards, with allowances for all types of income discrepancies. Perhaps software, movies, music and other IP products should be priced based on personal income by country, with limits on what you can own based on what you earn. If you want more, you need to earn more, relative to the personal income ranges of your country.

    It is something to think about that will continue to be a problem until all people world wide have similar income ranges.

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