Microsoft's smart fight against Office pirates

Microsoft Office as a standalone piece of software can be expensive. To ease that price burden and turn digital crooks away from a life of crime, Microsoft is offering a 50 percent discount on its Office suite to some people using pirated versions.

A new message in the Office ribbon bar is appearing on pirated Office apps, tempting people with a 50 percent discount on a genuine Microsoft 365 subscription.

The message links to an official Microsoft website that claims “pirated software exposes your PC to security threats.” Microsoft warns Office pirates that they run the risk of running into viruses, malware, data loss, identify theft, and the inability to receive critical updates.

The offer introduces a Microsoft 365 subscription that lets users pay a monthly subscription to access Office and a bunch of other services for a much cheaper rate.

The discount brings the price of a Microsoft 365 Family subscription down to just $49.99 for the first year, or $34.99 for a year of Microsoft 365 Personal.

Microsoft has used “get genuine Office” banners in its productivity suite for years, but it’s rare to see the software maker offer big discounts to convert pirates into paid customers.

This offer is only valid for the first year of subscription, meaning that after that, users will have to go back to paying full price for Microsoft 365. It’s an interesting approach where instead of trying to go after users by suing them, they are offering a discount.