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Microsoft: Users May Have To Prove Legal Windows Use

Microsoft may make it mandatory for Windows users to prove they have a genuine copy of Windows or Office in order to get updates from Automatic Update or Windows Update.

Last fall, the Redmond, Wash. software giant extended its year-old Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) anti-piracy online program that notifies Windows customers if they are using counterfeit or illegal copies of Windows.

A pilot of the notification service – called Genuine Software Initiative (GSI) -- was initially launched in November in Norway and Sweden and then later in five additional countries.

This week, Microsoft expanded the WGA notifications pilot to a "random subset" of English speaking customers in the U.S., U.K., Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.

Microsoft said the notification service for Windows Genuine Advantage in pilot is voluntary but acknowledged that it may become mandatory later this year.

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