As it turned out, the crackdown didn't really get going for another 18 months when, tired of the trade ignoring their pleas to buy from official sources only, Microsoft began making test purchases at retailers throughout the UK. Posing as members of the public, Microsoft representatives would buy software, even a complete machine, and check that the Microsoft part of it was genuine. If it wasn't, the retailer received a strong letter from Microsoft's very impressive London solicitors demanding to see all the retailer's sales records and invoices going back several years.

Every item of Microsoft software that was found to be bought from unofficial sources would be assumed to be counterfeit, which meant the retailer had to pay Microsoft the sum they would have received as profit for every one of those items, which typically came to many thousands of pounds. If the retailer didn't fancy this idea, he would be sued by Microsoft and named as a supplier of counterfeit software in Microsoft's trade advertising.

The unfortunates who got caught by this, some of whom didn't realise that what they were doing was 'wrong', ended up paying Microsoft very large sums indeed, and the deterrent effect soon resulted in everyone buying from official Microsoft suppliers. So if you've ever wondered why everyone now sells Windows at the same price, now you know - it's because everyone pays the same price.