Microsoft ‘s anti-piracy campaign continues to hold sway. Six resellers have come under its net in West Bengal's commercial center, Siliguri.
While speaking to a spokesperson in IT Dealers Association of Siliguri (ITDAS),it was confirmed that Microsoft charged a penalty fee amounting to Rs2 lakh per head.
However, after a joint meeting between the association members and representatives from the tech giant, the amount was reduced to Rs. 25,000. The charges were taken for indulgence and promotion of software piracy. The same spokesperson, wishing to remain anonymous said that a legal bond was inked promising not to indulge in such piracy activities thereafter.
The association has gone a step ahead in committing to associate itself with Microsoft in their anti-piracy drive. Reports pointed that such anti-piracy raids have increased the sale of computers and laptops by 40%.The rate of piracy has also seen a drastic reduction by 70%-75%.
Many channel partners betrayed angst about such sudden raids. They pointed to the fact that piracy is no doubt a menace and an illegal practice but many consumers fail to realise this and purchase pirated operating systems due to low cost. The allegations put on channel partners enraged many as it was mostly the customers' demands. In such a scenario, it is important to raise awareness about piracy so that consumers realise the negative implications and insist on purchasing only original OSs.