Thread: Counterfeit Office Users to Get Nags

IF MICROSOFT thinks that you're using a counterfeit version of its Office suite, a new pilot program will show nagging pop-up notices when¬ever you use the software, This step extends Micro¬soft's Office Genuine Advan¬tage initiative, which detects illegitimate copies of the productivity suite and blocks owners from downloading free files and non-se¬curity-related updates, Until now, OGA lacked a notification component, The nag-notice program will have a trial run in Chile, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. Past changes in Microsoft's anti piracy technology and
practices began as similar small trials but later went global.



Microsoft is already nagging people that it believes are using counterfeit versions of Windows, part of the com¬pany's unpopular Windows Genuine Advantage effort,
According to Microsoft, a pop-up notification indicat¬ing that the copy isn't valid will appear the first time a user opens an illegal Office app each day, followed by another pop-up 2 hours later.

The process will continue for up to 30 days. After that, a "visual reminder" will ap¬pear on all Office apps when they're used, but no one will be prevented from accessing data or editing files.