Microsoft has a big problem with software piracy. People buy one copy of the Microsoft Office program and then copy it, free, onto additional computers. The company seems particularly exercised about such piracy in school districts, but some school districts are fighting back, notably in Oregon and Washington.

Take Portland, Ore., for example. The Portland Oregonian newspaper reports that Microsoft sent a letter demanding that the school district audit its 25,000 computers within 60 days and “certify licensing compliance.” The newspaper quoted Scott Robinson, the district’s chief technology officer, as saying this would be “a virtual impossibility.” Mr. Robinson explained that many of the schools’ computers had been donated and arrived without pedigree. “We’re bubble gum and baling wire in terms of what we’re putting on the desktops. For us to try to manage every donated desktop that comes in from a business or an individual is ridiculous.”

Microsoft was ready with an alternative plan: Pay about $42 per machine each year for one system-wide license. That would come to just over $1 million a year. Mr. Robinson put the cost of an audit at $500,000. He didn’t like either one, and that’s how the matter got into the newspaper. The situation in Portland remains a standoff.

A man who calls himself Tom M., in Microsoft’s anti-piracy department, confirms the general pattern of the company’s campaign. He says it is handled by the Business Software Alliance, which represents Microsoft and other firms. It sends out letters demanding random audits and sometimes offers “open or select license agreements” instead. Tom M. says the thrust of the letters comes through as “get licensed or else.” He concedes that this seems pretty harsh but says it’s not meant to be. A refusal can mean a “sweep” of all computers in an area and legal action on any violations that are discovered.

Maine seems to have escaped these strong-arm tactics thus far. An official of the Bangor School Department says computers are carefully monitored for license compliance, although occasional violations are possible. The department has only 800 computers, but an audit even for that number in 60 days would disrupt school operations and require hiring three or four additional skilled people at $13 or $14 an hour. He said if Microsoft tried anything of the sort around here he would “scream loud and long.”