Microsoft Alleges Authentication Funny Business

07 February 2013

Microsoft has filed a NIS5 million (US$1.28 million) lawsuit against One1 Software Technologies subsidiary One Systems Integration at the Central District Court in Israel, alleging that the company sold PCs loaded with copies of Windows and fake authentication stickers. The suit accuses One Systems of “grossly violating the claimant’s rights, illegally enriching themselves at its expense.”

Microsoft alleges that private investigators found authentication stickers bought for Lenovo were found affixed to HP computers. The stickers are attached to computers installed with the Microsoft operating systems under OEM agreements between Microsoft and hardware vendors.

The suit says Microsoft “has concrete information indicating that the transaction by the respondent seriously violates the rights of the claimant, and it appears that the respondent is systematically trampling the claimant’s rights. The respondent sells computers with forged authenticity labels, in which pirated versions of the claimant’s products are installed without a license.”

One Software said it was surprised by the the claim, which was being reviewed. “A preliminary perusal of the claim indicates that the subsidiary acted properly with regard to all claims made in the suit, and in any case the amount of the claim is not extreme and there appears to be no link between it and the amount of damages claimed by the claimant,” the company said in a statement.