This came out yesterday....surprised this has not been posted...could have very interesting and hopefully positive implications for Wave the way I read this....best, WLT
_________________________________________________________________
07-30-07 1512ET
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 03 12 PM EDT 07-30-07
By Ben Charny
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is close to unveiling one of
its most radical efforts yet to battle software piracy in China and the world's
other piracy hot spots.
With Microsoft's permission, Chinese electronics manufacturers in October will
begin selling laptops that have Microsoft's flagship Vista operating system on
board but locked inside an encrypted hard disk drive made by Seagate Technology
(STX), a longtime Microsoft partner, people familiar with the matter told Dow
Jones Newswires.
In order to activate the Vista software, and thus turn on the computer, owners
will have to contact Microsoft and prove the software isn't pirated. Once
activated, the Seagate disk drive on board prevents the software from being
copied and redistributed, the sources said.
The new tactic is a radical departure for Microsoft in several ways, thus
highlighting how computer software makers are trying new tactics to battle
increasingly sophisticated pirates. The effort is among the first times
Microsoft's piracy-fighting measures have relied chiefly on a computer
component, rather than software Microsoft creates.
Meanwhile, the effort also means Microsoft is moving further away from
distributing its software on compact disks in China, which can be easily copied
and distributed.
Fujitsu, the Japanese electronics giant, supports the effort and has acquired
some of the Seagate drives loaded with Vista, the sources said.
The same hard disk drives also were shipped to several unnamed Chinese "white
box" computer makers, which build computers ultimately sold under the brand
names of Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and other large scale
manufacturers, the sources said.
China is the initial target market because the nation has been a hotbed for
pirated software. It's estimated that in 2006, about 82% of all the software
used in the nation had been illegally copied and passed on.
"China's where all the action is, so that's where we're going first," one of
the sources said.
The sources quoted in this report are directly involved in negotiations with
the various companies working with Microsoft. They have asked for anonymity
because they have not been authorized to speak publicly about the effort. The
sources did not provide the names of the Chinese computer makers that are part
of the effort.
Piracy's threat to Microsoft, and the computer software industry, was
underscored last week with the arrests of more two dozen people allegedly
responsible for distributing $2 billion worth of pirated Microsoft and Symantec
Corp. (SYMC) software in 27 countries for six years.
Microsoft estimated the ring had cost it $1 billion in legitimate sales of its
operating systems.
Last year, the Business Software Alliance, a trade group representing
Microsoft and others, estimated that 35% of the software used worldwide was
counterfeit, representing a sales loss of nearly $40 billion.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
