REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 10, 2005 — “I applaud the Administration’s ongoing efforts to improve enforcement and fight IP piracy worldwide. Piracy is a serious threat to consumers and businesses throughout the world. Losses to the software industry alone are in the billions of dollars per year. Software pirates deceive consumers who are fooled into buying counterfeit products and hurt legitimate businesses trying to compete legally and fairly. The sale of pirated software also thwarts the economic growth and job creation that is driven by the commercial software industry. According to the Business Software Alliance, over one-third of the software used worldwide is pirated and there will be nearly $200 billion of software pirated globally by 2010.
“At Microsoft we believe that our customers want to be sure they are purchasing and using genuine software. We remain committed to advancing education among consumers to identify and obtain genuine software. Microsoft is also continuing to invest heavily in engineering world-class anti-counterfeiting technologies to protect our intellectual property, and to supporting government and law enforcement on enforcement actions against counterfeiters.”
