By Emeka Aginam

Despite legislation and ongoing anti-piracy campaigns, there has been growing concern by the software giant, Microsoft on the dangers of using fake product even as majority of consumers still have challenge of distinguishing genuine product from counterfeits.

Worried by the ugly trend, Microsoft Nigeria is again,calling on consumers in Nigeria to stay safe with genuine software.

“Since 2005, we have heard from more than 300,000 consumers around the world who have submitted details to the Microsoft “How to Tell” Web site about fake software that left their computers infected with viruses and malware, or that simply didn’t work as advertised,” Kenneth Mba, Anti-Piracy Conversion Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, said.

Similarly, Microsoft’s David Finn, Associate General Counsel for worldwide anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting narrated challenges of consumers regarding fake software products.

“Consumers everywhere are coming to us with complaints about counterfeit software. They’re asking what they can do to protect themselves. They want facts. And they want industry and government to stand up and take action. Our commitment is to do everything we can to help them.” he explained.

To buttress the issue, Microsoft related the experience of one Mr Tunde Oyelowo, a cyber café owner in Ibadan regarding how difficult it is to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit software. According to Oyelowo:

“The disc I bought came shrink-wrapped and looked good, but then it wouldn’t validate. I checked out the “How to Tell” Web site, and even though it was hard to tell the difference between my counterfeit software and the real thing, I spotted a few signs that confirmed I was tricked. If I had checked that site before I bought the software, I would have saved a lot of time and money,” Oyelowo said.

To buy genuine software, Microsoft gave a checklist to help end users in shopping for original software, which, among others enjoined buyers to buy from a trusted source; check the label, package and discs, and be suspicious of software products that do not include proof of authenticity, such as a hologram CD, DVD, recovery media, manuals and Microsoft Software License Terms (MSLT).