Sound strange, but it is true according to Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes. “If they’re going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else,” Raikes said. .Speaking last week at the Morgan Stanley Technology conference in San Francisco, said a certain amount of software piracy actually helps Microsoft because it can lead to purchases by individuals who otherwise might never have been exposed to the company’s products.
Microsoft is world leader in operating system and application software. According to the report, “Worldwide Client and Server Operating Environment Market Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2007,” Windows desktop OS sales worldwide increased from 93.2 percent of the market in 2001 to 93.8 percent in 2002, accounting for more than $9.75 billion in sales.
Microsoft loses about millions of dollar every year in the piracy and copyright violation and piracy, mostly in developing countries such as India and China, which are booming economy. Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes estimates that between 20% and 25% of all software used in the United States is pirated, but said some pirates end up becoming paying customers.

He further said .”We understand that in the long run the fundamental asset is the installed base of people who are using our products,” Raikes said. “What you hope to do over time is convert them to licensing the software.”
But he also added that Microsoft will not give up efforts to track down the illegal copying of its products.
Raikes also told media persons that Microsoft is developing so-called “pay-as-you-go” software offerings with pricing schemes similar to those used by cell phone companies for emerging markets as a way of encouraging low-income individuals to use the company’s products legally.