The goal of Product Activation is to reduce a form of piracy known as 'casual copying' or 'softlifting.' Casual copying is a form of piracy characterized by the sharing of software between people in a way that infringes on the software's end user license agreement (EULA).Īctivation is a new feature in Office Mac 2011. Microsoft Product Activation tries to reduce counterfeit software, and to make sure that Microsoft customers receive the software quality that they expect.