Piracy makes PC warranty null and void?

It seemed bizarre to read a flyer from Microsoft's paper licensing business which is aimed at creating awareness around piracy. The flyer states that piracy exposes one's computer to malware, spyware and hacking by disabling built in security features and puts one's business and confidential data at risk. It seems fair and an earnest attempt to cognize customers of the problems of piracy. However, the last line which states "makes your PC warranty null and void" has made PC warranty 'null and void' and has taken at least one reseller aback. 

Agra based Daya IT Solution's owner, Amrit prakash asks, "How come hardware warranty is related to the usage of pirated software. The message is not coherent and is prone to ambiguity."

He also said that these kinds of messages have legal bindings which may prove harmful to their business.

The DQ Week attempted to get some coherent picture. In Microsoft's Singapore website (http://www.microsoft.com/singapore/piracyuncovered/risks.aspx), the company has tried to explain the similar problem but with adifferent approach. In the risks, it mentions "your warranty could be voided." 

It then explains, "Remember the vendor you got to load pirated software onto your PC? What some of them actually do is swap your entire hard disk for a non-original, malware infected hard disk that can put your entire PC at risk. The worst part is that because the original hard disk has been removed, the warranty on your entire PC is now null and void. If anything at all goes wrong with your PC, the PC maker will no longer fix it under warranty."

It then goes on to state "28% of PCs with pirated software had their original hard disks swapped."

The difference is of "could be" in Microsoft Singapore version and "makes" in the Indian version.

The DQ Week also spoke to hardware vendor Acer in the context of the message in the flyer. S Rajendran, chief marketing officer, Acer said that Acer adheres to the standard warranty replacement process and have many check list points and in case of careless handling etc., the warranty is not entertained. He did not comment on the Microsoft's standpoint as mentioned in the flyer. He, however, added, "If any damage to the hardware by the virtue of using any non-genuine software or OS is established, we do not honor the warranty."