By Michael Cherry [bio]
Posted: Nov. 6, 2006

The following is a sidebar accompanying an article published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and reports are also available.

The Software Protection Platform (SPP) is a set of software components for activation and validation. It includes an activation service, a client service, and an API designed to work with Microsoft's OSs, applications, and game software to enforce activation programs, such as Windows Product Activation (WPA), and validation programs, such as Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA).

In addition to using SPP for activation and validation, Microsoft products will use it to implement future services, such as support for online product upgrades. For example, customers who purchase Vista Home will be able to obtain a new license key that allows them to upgrade to Vista Business Professional by unlocking the additional features so they can be installed from the customer's current distribution media. After the upgrade is complete, the OS will have to be reactivated with the upgrade key.

In addition, SPP could be part of future Software Asset Management programs that help customers balance or "true-up" the number of licenses actually activated with the number of licenses that the customer acquired from the appropriate Microsoft channel. This is not part of Volume Activation version 2.0, but it would allow customers to pay for only the exact number of licenses that they need, rather than using a broad volume license agreement that can lead to overlicensing—a common scenario, given that tracking compliance is time-consuming and difficult but failing a license audit can have serious financial consequences.

The SPP resembles the Automatic Updates (AU) platform, which provides a common set of patch and security update detection and deployment tools that various products can implement to ensure that customers have the latest patches and security updates.

Scalability and reliability create another similarity between SPP and AU. Large numbers of customers use AU every day, and similarly, a large number of products will use SPP every day to activate their copy of Windows. Any problems with SPP will have major repercussions. For example, if activation servers at Microsoft receive a million requests each day for activation and only 0.1% fail, 1,000 legitimate customers will be told that they have a failed activation and will have to call Microsoft to activate their software or will need to work with Microsoft to determine why they failed activation.

Microsoft states that the activation tools are highly accurate, and the number of false positives is very low. In cases in which a customer is unknowingly running counterfeit software, Microsoft works closely with the user to remedy the situation. In some cases, the user may be entitled to a discount on a legitimate copy of Windows in return for providing information about the source of the counterfeit software.