Microsoft, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), has reached out-of-court civil settlements with two computer resellers caught selling unlicensed copies of Microsoft software.

Civil settlements have been agreed between Microsoft and two computer resellers in Dubai, A4M General Trading and Al Istath Computers, after they were found to be selling non-genuine software.

The civil settlements followed law enforcement raids on the resellers in October 2008.
Following the agreement, both resellers have agreed not to sell any counterfeit or unlicensed Microsoft software in future and are now looking to work in partnership with Microsoft to ensure that they only supply genuine software to their customers.

In turn, Microsoft will be offering its support to both resellers to enable them develop their business and provide a positive experience to their customers.

'Piracy hurts our honest channel partners who are just trying to earn a living. Partners who must compete with pirates lose more than software revenue; they lose system sales and the opportunity to service those customers over the years,' said Dale Waterman, Microsoft’s corporate attorney for anti piracy in the Middle East and Africa.

'Microsoft is therefore determined to protect its customer, reseller and partner ecosystem from the threat and losses associated with piracy, and to prevent unscrupulous resellers from taking advantage of innocent consumers and gaining an unfair advantage over our honest partners.'

'Our concerted efforts in coordination with our members are steadily bringing in the desired results, as we aim to reduce piracy in the UAE,' added Jawad Al Redha, BSA co-chairman in the Gulf region.-TradeArabia News Service