Microsoft to Trial Office Anti-Piracy Nag System

You'll recall that Microsoft has removed the "kill switch" in Windows Vista, meaning that users of suspected counterfeit copies will nagged rather than losing functionality. Microsoft is about to launch a pilot program for Office, with similar nagging notifications.

The change would be considered an expansion of the Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) initiative, which blocks suspected copies from downloading templates and other files as well as updates.

The new system, to be first tried in Chile, Italy, Span and Turkey (lucky them), will work as follows:

For the first 30 days, the OGA notification system will display a pop-up message the first time Office is opened each day. Two hours later the user will see another pop-up.

After the 30th day, Office applications will be "marked" with a visual reminders that the copy of Office is counterfeit. I suppose you could consider it sort of a "Scarlet Letter." But the reminder will not impair use of the software, in a sort of kinder, gentler anti-piracy measure. Once the user uninstalls or installs a legitimate copy of Office, the marker will disappear.

The pilot program will be voluntary, with the OGA notification software offered as an update. I'm sure they'll get a lot of takers (insert sarcasm here). However, it's unclear if those with automatic ujpdates turned on would get the notification update by default; yet another reason to turn off automatic updates, eh?

Not that I'm encouraging piracy; everything I have is legit, but I don't like stuff being installed without my knowledge or permission; thus I turn off automatic updates.

Typically this type of program gets trialled in a few countries and then rolled out to others, so you can expect this to hit your country once Microsoft irons out any issues it might find.