Microsoft is set to begin a pilot of a new Genuine Advantage anti-piracy mechanism for Office that will add a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nag-like\u00e2\u20ac\u009d feature, akin to what is now part of Windows Vista, to Office. <\/p>\n
Office already currently includes an Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) validation mechanism<\/a> (for Office XP and Office 2007), but Microsoft doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do a whole lot to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153punish\u00e2\u20ac\u009d those it deems to be running non-Genuine versions of Office. However, as part of a new OGA notifications pilot program \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which Microsoft is launching in Chile, Italy, Spain and Turkey<\/a>, according to an April 8 announcement buried in a Q&A on Microsoft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Web site \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Microsoft is set to turn up the unpleasantness a notch. <\/p>\n I asked Microsoft to explain what will happen in the new pilot. According to Cori Hartje, Director Genuine Software Initiative: <\/p>\n