Microsoft Catches Up With Counterfeit Software

The continuing popularity of the Great Satan of Software – and its products -- kept British police busy over the Christmas holiday.

The latest in a long line of anti-piracy raids brought in the biggest haul of counterfeit Microsoft Office 97 CDs to date.

The 55,000 CDs, with a street value of £20 million, were seized by Microsoft investigators working with Berkshire CID and local Trading Standards Officers.

Two lock-up premises were raided, resulting in the arrest and bail of two men. Microsoft believed the CDs, which were packaged in jewel cases, were some of the 100,000 fake stock it issued a pre-Christmas warning about.

This haul brings the value of illegal Microsoft software recovered in the last four months to more than £70 million.

The seizure should bring a post-Christmas glow to the cheeks of software vendors, who were up in arms last week when a Sheffield-based gang of software pirates could not be prosecuted due to a lack of funds.

If you have any worries about pirate copies of Microsoft software, please do not contact The Register. Instead, you should call the Microsoft anti-piracy hotline on 0345 02000 xtn 999. ®

Source: The Register

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