Microsoft has launched legal action against UK high-street retailer Comet for creating and selling 94,000 pirated copies of Windows recovery CDs.
The tech giant says the counterfeit discs were sold to Brits that purchased PCs and laptops with Windows XP and Windows Vista pre-loaded on them. Microsoft claims the discs were created at a factory in Hampsire and then in various Comet stores across the country.
"As detailed in the complaint filed today, Comet produced and sold thousands of counterfeit Windows CDs to unsuspecting customers in the United Kingdom," said David Finn, associate general counsel, Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft.
"Comet's actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products - and our customers deserve better, too."
Comet, which is currently owned by French retail company Kesa Electricals PLC, has yet to comment of the law suit. It is thought private equity firm OpCapita LLP plans to purchase the retailer later this year.
Microsoft advised PC owners concerned about the legitimacy of their software to visit its How to tell website.
Comments
Sirjohng said: You and I and most sensible people can see this but it does not make money for MS does it They penny pinch by supplying with no disc expecting everyone to know exactly what to do and then try to exert their power further down the supply chain to an item they did not offer for sale and was not charged for by Comet apparently How will their lawyers spin in court the fact that the end user can do it but not the PC supplier They do have a knack for making themselves look stupid dont they
omendata said: Users often dont create their own recovery discs in time for a disaster so I guess Comet was just trying to give a bit better customer service then is punished for it Whats the difference between the customer creating the recovery dvd on a blank dvd-r and Comet Microshaft are always on the court and lawyer trail its getting boring - I almost hope Apple trounces them into non-existence - Almost
Alexander Stopher said: The problem is the Recovery Disks that came with the PCs not theLicense
Peter said: If the PCs had windows pre-loaded on them with a valid legal certificate of authenticity on the outside hence a legal copy of the OS installed I dont see what the problem is if the disk supplied for recovery should the system fail did not originate from a Microsoft factory with a hologram on it After all most PCs nowadays come with no disks and you have to burn your own from an image on the hard drive - whats the difference If Comet were burning the recovery disk it was saving the customer a job they might not be familiar with if a new PC user and saving Comets support staff a problem when the machine needed attention with no disk available because a customer couldnt work out what they were supposed to do Microsoft havent lost anything and so long as the disks were clean of malware and viruses the customer hadnt lost out either