Is Microsoft's Anti-Piracy Campaign Good for Open Source?

"Using pirated software can shut down your business at any time" is the message Microsoft is heavily carrying out on major Jordanian websites. The campaign promoted by Microsoft Jordan is linking to a page which shows a list of resellers in Jordan in addition to a link to report cases of software piracy.

A recent study by the BSA estimated that industry losses, due to software piracy, in Jordan rose to $22 Millions, the same study says that piracy rates in Jordan are near to 60%.

Jordan has never been considered an important market for multinational software firms, however it seems things are changing and organizations like the BSA and even the US Embassy in Amman are 'accused' to push the government towards stronger IP and copyright law enforcement.

Naturally. the government is proud of its crusade against software piracy and when asked about pirated software in Jordan, the (former) Minister of ICT said it clearly: "there's a raid, that they've confiscated these products. We signed an agreement with Microsoft, signed an agreement with Oracle... the government is very strict: we get hundreds of millions of aid every year from the United States".

It is not the first time Microsoft raises the tones against piracy in the kingdom, before two years a top Microsoft director asked Jordan for more efforts to further reduce software piracy, companies owners said that Microsoft is strongly cooperating with authorities in order to force companies to use genuine Microsoft products.

If caught with illegal software, companies are either asked to buy original versions and pay additional money within a limited period of time or to go into legal disputes with Microsoft. Of course, they often opt for the first choice.

But this is not always the case, before some period of time I was shocked after I had heard that some PC resellers in Amman were selling Windows-less computers with FreeDOS installed. Their decision came after inspections from the police or the Department of the National Library (they are responsible to check for copyright infringements in Jordan).

Luckily, Microsoft's behavior is also pushing more and more companies to adopt other open source software. Before years, Linux and free software were worthy only to open source fanatics and geeky IT managers, but now they become more than a valid option in contrast with expensive software licensing and intellectual property illegalities.

Probably we will end up thanking Microsoft and their uncalculated efforts to increase open source adoption in Jordan.