U.S., China Crack $2 Billion Pirated Software Ring
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
American and Chinese authorities arrested members of a syndicate based in Southern China alleged to have sold an estimated $2 billion of fake computer software bearing the brand of Microsoft Corp., the company said yesterday.
“Countries around the world are expected to experience a significant decrease in the volume of counterfeit software as a direct result of this action,” Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said in a statement yesterday on its Web site.
The arrests come after the American government in April filed two complaints against China with the World Trade Organization to stop what it said was rampant piracy of movies, music, and software. Illegal copying of business software cost Microsoft, Adobe Systems Inc. and other companies $40 billion worldwide last year, according to the Business Software Alliance, a trade group that tracks piracy.
Raids on the China syndicate’s operations and arrests of its members were carried out over a two-week period and were the culmination of a “multi-year” investigation, Microsoft said.
