Supreme Court Upholds Conviction as Husband Failed to Explain Wife’s Death in Matrimonial Home  ||  Supreme Court: Crime Scene Re-Enactment Does Not Always Violate Right Against Self-Incrimination  ||  Supreme Court: Cognizance Taken Without Hearing Accused under BNSS Section 223 is Void Ab Initio  ||  Supreme Court Upholds Will in Sister’s Favour, Says Excluding Natural Heirs is Not Suspicious  ||  Delhi HC: Absence of Public Witnesses and Videography in NDPS Recovery Relevant for Bail Decisions  ||  Raj HC Initiates Suo Motu Cognizance Over Severe Water Crisis in Jodhpur, Issues Interim Directions  ||  Del HC: Courts Cannot Direct, Monitor Inquiry Into Police Delay in Investigation After Bail Decision  ||  Supreme Court: After the BNSS, a Pre-Cognizance Hearing is Mandatory in PMLA Cases  ||  SC: Landowners Cannot be Forced to Waive Statutory Compensation to Claim Other Benefits  ||  Supreme Court: Banks are Lenient With Big Borrowers But Strict With Ordinary Loan Applicants    

Microsoft Corporation and Ors. v. Susheel Kumar and Ors. - (23 Sep 2015)

Cheaper to pirate than purchase?

MANU/DE/3014/2015

Intellectual Property Rights

In a case against large pirating of Microsoft software (yes, makers of the little known ‘Windows’, ‘Office’ and ‘Bing’), the Delhi High Court laid heady damages of Rs. 5 lakhs against a most prolific Blackbeard of unpaid-for software. Given that Karle Group, with a dedicated IT Department no less, was running nearly 300 computers with Microsoft software on which over 200 unlicensed pieces of Microsoft software were found installed, the ‘punitive’ damages are more flea-ting than they first seem. Especially since 55 computers were erased of illicit software(s) during the conduct of search. Microsoft had estimated the damage suffered to over Rs. 17 lakhs.

Relevant : Without the dreaded ‘takedown’ notices of the United States, and disconnection of habitual illegal software and media sharers in the European Union, India, an enormous potential market for Western software firms, is nascent in its anti-piracy measures. Figures by BSA, a global consortium of software developers, estimated that in 2013 India was home to over $2.9 billion worth of unlicensed software. Cue growth in broadband uptake and greater internet penetration with over 15 million wired broadband subscribers and over 78 million wireless internet subscribers (showing a whopping 16 per cent monthly growth, according to TRAI Telecom Data on 31st January 2015), Western software firms emboldened by government overtures, and the need to distance from China’s example (Copy? Right!), it is only a matter of time before that tug of war begins.

Tags : SOFTWARE   PIRATE   UNLICENSED   MICROSOFT   PUNITIVE  

Share :        

Disclaimer | Copyright 2026 - All Rights Reserved