Microsoft keelhauls 20 firms for software piracy

Legal offensive part of wider anti-piracy campaign

Microsoft has stepped up its legal offensive against software pirates with the filing of 20 lawsuits against resellers allegedly engaged in the distribution of illegal software.

The lawsuits, filed against 20 defendants throughout the US, are against companies that allegedly distributed counterfeit software or software components, or participated in ‘hard-disk loading’.

Hard-disk loading involves the installation of unlicensed software on computers that are then sold to unsuspecting customers.

Legal actions were filed against companies in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Texas.

“We want to make it clear to people who try to profit illegally,” said Microsoft senior attorney Mary Jo Schrade.

“Microsoft is determined to protect its intellectual property, while also helping protect consumers and honest resellers from the deceptive and dangerous practices of counterfeiting and hard-disk loading.

“We devote significant resources to helping ensure the integrity of the software marketplace and will not sit by as consumers are put at risk and honest resellers are hurt.”

Full story: vnunet.com