TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Microsoft Sues Resellers Over Piracy

Microsoft Sues Resellers Over Piracy

Reuters News Wire (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:16:44 -0500

Microsoft Corp. said on Tuesday it had filed 26 lawsuits that allege
computer dealers sold illegal software.

The filings are part of the company's effort to crack down on
intellectual property piracy.

The lawsuits, filed in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New
York, Ohio and South Carolina, allege that the computer resellers
pirated software or installed unlicensed software on computers they
sold, Microsoft said.

"Our message should be made very clear by today's lawsuits," Mary Jo
Schrade, senior attorney at Microsoft, said in a news release.

"We are committed to finding the unscrupulous dealers of pirated
software and making piracy a business model that doesn't work."

Microsoft gathered evidence for these cases through the use of a
program that is similar to a secret shopper concept. As part of its
test purchase program, the company buys hardware and software from
computer dealers across the country and then tests the software and
software components to determine their authenticity, it said.

Shares of Microsoft ended up 19 cents or 0.85 percent at $22.48 on the
Nasdaq on Monday.

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.

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