Microsoft says crushing piracy could take decades

How does a company like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) keep huge numbers of people in countries like Indonesia and China from using pirated copies of its software? According to Craig Mundie, Microsoft chief research and strategy officer, for now, there is little the company can do. He told Reuters: "We are realistic in recognizing that we have to work diligently over periods, that are really a decade or two, to make real progress in a number of these environments."

That means that tens of million of copies of Windows could easily bring Redmond not a single dime. It also means that the company is relying on local officials to support anti-piracy laws. Policing such large populations really isn't possible.

But, Mundie may be acting a bit cute. In all likelihood, the answer for thwarting pirates has nothing to do with laws and police. Microsoft and other large software companies are almost certainly working diligently to make ripping and copying software much more difficult. They would at least have as a goal putting in a set of systems which would disable may of the software's features if copying were attempted.

If selling a version of Window in China yields $100 and there are, say 20 million copies of pirated versions distributed per year, it add up to real money, even for Microsoft. Odds are that the problem is solved through programming and local laws to prevent stealing be damned.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.