Software development at Microsoft is focused at our head office in Seattle, but the big opportunity for software programmers in this country is education. Developing useful educational products could make South Africa a niche exporter of software products, while at the same time filling the vacuum that exists in the local educational market. Apart from piracy, high tariffs and duties can be a problem for software providers in Africa. Once you move into Africa the tariffs are very high and getting our products through customs is fraught with difficulties and delays. The costs though do not seem to deter our customers in those countries.
Most countries have a good legal framework to combat piracy.
But even after you have a legal framework we often ask the police to get involved. Our approach depends on how educated the marketplace is. The most common aspect of piracy are dealers who sell PCs with pirated software and charge the buyer for the software. As soon as we discover a culprit we charge him. Large users, who should be the most honest, will be given plenty of warnings before we proceed with legal action.