Microsoft is stepping up its antipiracy game related to the Office 2007 System. In an effort to lend a helping hand to customers that are looking to buy genuine products, the Redmond company will expand the antipiracy measures developed for Office 2007. The initiative is designed to allow customers in no less than 13 additional countries and territories to also validate their copies of Office 2007 as genuine or non-genuine, on top of the 28 markets where Office Genuine Advantage was available prior to August 25th, 2009. Debbie Walsh, director of emerging markets and license compliance in Microsoft’s Information Worker product group, explained that the new antipiracy measure came to protect consumers from being duped into buying pirated copies of Office 2007.

“When customers are misled into buying non-genuine software, they forfeit access to technical support, upgrades, user manuals and bug fixes,” Walsh noted. “Even worse, they are forced to deal with incomplete software code and increase the risk of exposing their PC to debilitating viruses that could destroy data and steal personal information. Through programs like Office Genuine Advantage, Microsoft is determined to protect customers from the pitfalls of non-genuine software.”

Microsoft revealed that consumers get tricked into acquiring counterfeit copies of Office 2007 because they can no longer visually tell the difference between genuine and counterfeit products. And indeed, as you can see in the image at the top of this article, bootleggers have reached a level of sophistication that makes it virtually impossible for customers to recognize genuine Office 2007 retail boxes from pirated copies.

“The only way to protect consumers is by educating them about software piracy, enabling them to make discerning purchasing decisions, and then providing solutions when they are unwittingly defrauded,” Walsh added. “The OGA program not only helps customers to differentiate the value of genuine Office products, but more importantly, it bolsters their confidence while shopping for software. Only then can they can enjoy the full range of Office capabilities and anticipate continuous system improvements.”

In total, users in 41 markets around the world can turn to Office Genuine Advantage in order to help them confirm that the Office 2007 copy they bought is genuine. Following the expansion of the program, users in Austria, Brazil, Finland, Greece, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Peru, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States can also access OGA. Office 2007 users need only to install the OGA client on their local machine to validate the copy of the productivity suite they bought. Once Office 2007 is validated as genuine, they will have access to all capabilities, support and upgrades associated with the product, while non-genuine copies of Office 2007 will not.