Today Microsoft Corp. announced efforts to shut down alleged international software smuggling operations. As part of that effort, Microsoft has filed nine lawsuits and issued more than 50 cease and desist letters.

Companies in Jordan and elsewhere have made millions of dollars in illegal profits by trafficking in specially priced academic software diverted from education programs, according to allegations in the lawsuit complaints. This software was passed off to consumers in the United States who unknowingly lacked the license to use it. The lawsuits were filed in federal courts in California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada and Montana.

Today’s lawsuits allege that companies in Jordan and elsewhere posing as academic resellers obtained hundreds of thousands of copies of discounted Microsoft® Windows® and Office system software intended for students in the region. These companies reaped millions of dollars in illegal profits by allegedly selling the software to Internet retailers in the United States rather than supplying it to the students. Many of the Internet retailers, in turn, allegedly made hefty profits by selling the software at retail prices to unsuspecting American consumers who were deceived into buying software that was not licensed for their use.