Win 7 piracy: Fact or fiction?

Though the news of pirated versions of Windows 7 doing rampant business in
Lucknow has hit the market, leading national and sub-distributors of Microsoft
beg to differ.

While many partners were surprised on being asked if they were aware of the
news of pirated versions of Windows 7 raking in up to Rs 50 lakh within two
weeks of the official launch in India, others even sounded amused at the
prospect.

Pankaj Kumar Agarwal of Docket Care Systems, Lucknow mentioned that he has
heard about Windows 7 being rampantly pirated, that too even before its launch.
"The original packages are not even available yet, so how can pirated copies be
out already?" questioned Alok Gupta of Delhi-based Softmart Solutions.
"Customers are buying beta version as they don't know about the contents of the
CD/DVD. But by March next year they will find out the reality," said Gupta.

"Windows 7 will be very difficult to pirate due to the in-built security
features. It will take a while before pirates are able to crack the codes for
this OS," informed KK Jha of Delhi-Based KK Software.

It is interesting to note that in the absence of the availability of Windows
7, the beta and trial versions are actually acting as honeypots to tempt
customers to purchase it. Microsoft has openly provided the beta version till
March 2010, and its 30-day trial version, called 'Rearm' can be run three times,
giving customers a total of 120 days to use the OS.

Gupta explained, "As per the rules understood by distributors, the Finance
Minister had announced during the budget that with effect Sep 1, 2009, software
importers will be given tax exemption provided that they give assurance to the
custom duty that they will charge service tax."