April 8th, 2008

Posted by Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is set to begin a pilot of a new Genuine Advantage anti-piracy mechanism for Office that will add a “nag-like” feature, akin to what is now part of Windows Vista, to Office.

Office ordering viagra already currently includes an Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) validation mechanism (for Office XP and Office 2007), but Microsoft doesn’t do a whole lot to “punish” those it deems to be running non-Genuine versions of Office. However, as part of a new OGA notifications pilot program — which Microsoft is launching in Chile, Italy, Spain and Turkey, according to an April 8 announcement buried in a Q&A on Microsoft’s Web site — Microsoft is set to turn up the unpleasantness a notch.

I asked Microsoft to explain what will happen in the new pilot. According to Cori Hartje, Director Genuine Software Initiative:

“Today, in current OGA validation process, there is no visual & persistent representation within the experience of being a non-genuine Office user. The outcome for being non-genuine today is that the user does not gain access to Office templates and other downloads. In the pilot the non-genuine copy of Office will also have an icon on the toolbar or ribbon indicating that it is non-genuine.

“Specifically, users of non-genuine Office in the pilot areas will receive a pop-up dialog box alerting them their Microsoft Office software is not genuine. The customer will receive this dialog box the first time they open an Office application each day, and again two hours later for a period of 30 days. They will also receive information on how to learn more about the issue, and how to acquire genuine Microsoft Office. After receiving these dialog box notifications for 30 days, Office applications will be marked with a visual reminder that the copy of Office is not genuine. Both the dialog box and/or the visual reminder will disappear once the customer gets genuine Office and/or uninstalls the non-genuine Office products. None of the visual cues presented will impair a customer from accessing their data or preparing documents.”

In other words, the new OGA nagging won’t be like the old Windows kill switch. Instead it will be the kinder and gentler nagging which Microsoft adopted with Vista Service Pack (SP) 1.

There’s no exact timeframe I can find for how long the pilot will last or when Microsoft will broaden it to other countries. Microsoft says it will be delivering the new OGA notification mechanism via a “voluntary Microsoft update.” More fine print on the new OGA notification pilot:

“There will be no personal data collected or shared with Microsoft as customers implement the OGA notifications update. These notifications are designed to help alert customers who have acquired and are using non-genuine Office. Once notified, customers can take action to reduce the risk of running counterfeit software by getting genuine Office through the online purchase programs or by going to a local authorized Microsoft reseller.”

Bottom line: Get ready for more nagging if you’re either an Office pirate or deemed to be one by Microsoft.