Anti-piracy Initiative Microsoft-Lenovo: Pre-paid Cards for PCs

'Microsoft and Lenovo Team Up on New 'Pay As You Go' PCs for Emerging Markets; Companies to Launch Market Trials in China and India Using Microsoft FlexGo (TM) Technology' wrote
TMCnet.

"Consumers will be able to purchase a Lenovo desktop PC by paying about half of its street price up-front, and paying the balance over time through the purchase of prepaid cards from Lenovo."

Microsoft and Lenovo collaborate "on the Lenovo Innovation Centers in the U.S., China and India; the ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC; and the Genuine Windows (R) Experience Program to combat counterfeiting and piracy in China."

Genuine Windows is an online upgrade to an existing software program that checks if the software is genuine. If it is not, it will start warning the user untill he changes the pirated software for a genuine version. Microsoft collaborates also with Founder on this. See here.

Read TMCnet article here. Stan Beer of Australian iTWire wrote about it too here. Eric Bangeman of Ars Technica here.