The opening paragraphs of the letter read: "Recently you have been buying fewer copies of Microsoft Office Professional from authorised Microsoft original equipment manufacturer distributors. "We understand that competition for business is intense and that it is getting even tougher. "Some system builders try to undercut their competitors by selling and installing copies of [software], making the situation worse for those selling licensed Microsoft software."

Mike Lawrence, managing director at reseller Bentpenny, said that the correspondence had left him fuming. "We have never sold any illegal software and [the letter] implies that a reduction in orders is the result of illegal copies being sold when it is actually because the market is at saturation," he explained.

Caroline Smith, marketing programmes manager of the UK Compliance Group at Microsoft, claimed that there was never any intention of accusing anyone of wrongdoing. She described it as an important "buyer beware" message aimed at raising awareness of the problem of high quality counterfeit products being sold in the channel.