Microsoft has launched a new anti-piracy tool that requires Chinese computer users to ensure their software is Microsoft genuine. The "Windows Genuine Advantage" program turns computer users’ screens black if the installed software fails a Microsoft pre-installed validation test. 

This is Microsoft's latest attempt to curb the piracy of its software in China, where the majority of 200 million computer users are believed by Microsoft to be using counterfeit software, whether on purpose or not. That’s a lot of bootlegged software.

Thousands of Chinese Internet users are furious at Microsoft’s intrusion into their computer programs to determine whether they have purchased genuine software. These are likely the people who have experienced the black screen of death.

Bloggers have raged at Microsoft’s attempts to control its own products: “Microsoft has no right to control my hardware without my agreement." A Beijing Internet cafe guest said Microsoft was violating people's rights.

Dong Zhengwei, 35, a Beijing lawyer, described Microsoft as the "biggest hacker in China with its intrusion into users' computer systems without their agreement or any judicial authority," the China Daily said. Obviously, these users did not read the documentation that came with their Microsoft software programs.

Microsoft owns these software programs, and owns the trademarks and other intellectual property rights that are part of this software forever. Software piracy is a crime in the U.S. and Microsoft is a U.S.-based company, and the definition of piracy includes buying as well as selling unlicensed copies. Users have a limited license to use the genuine software and the license is only valid as long as the users do not violate the license provisions. Bootleg copies are not legal software and there are no valid licenses available through bootleg copies.

If these users have legitimate copies of the software, the validation test should not bump them off, at least in theory. However, the shutdown of users’ computers due to installation of pirated software will certainly teach users a painful lesson: they cannot afford to plead ignorance of authenticity when they purchase a Microsoft software product.

It seems like common sense to us: if the price of the software program seems too low and is too good to be true, then it is likely a pirated copy. The consumer mantra of caveat emptor still applies, which translates to “Let the buyer beware.”

Microsoft has defended the anti-piracy program on its Website as part of its "commitment to help protect its intellectual property and to help you avoid problems before they happen."

“The purpose ... is to help our customers to determine (if) genuine software is installed on their computers," Microsoft said in a statement to Reuters.