FBI busts Chinese piracy ring with help from Microsoft

With the help of anti-piracy technology from Microsoft, China has busted a huge counterfeit software syndicate.

Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage validation tool prompted consumers to send in counterfeit installation discs, which were traced to a syndicate in southern China that produced and distributed more than USD 2 billion in pirated Microsoft software.

Microsoft said that it has been tracking counterfeiters for the last 15 years and the one busted in China was the biggest software counterfeiting organization the company has ever witnessed. The piracy syndicate, which was located in South China, pirated the software of both Microsoft and Symantec and sold the pirated software around the world including the United States.

The Chinese police said that they arrested 25 people and seized property worth USD 8 million from the Chinese city of Shenzhen. An FBI statement said that the pirated software has an approximate value of USD 500 million.

The Chinese police have arrested Ma KePei and 10 others in Shanghai. In 2003, Ma was indicted in a New York court for making and distributing counterfeit Microsoft programs. But Ma fled to China and has now been accused of making fake Symantec security software.

Windows Genuine Advantage is a software program which is basically designed to notify consumers if they are running pirated versions of the company's software. If the software they are using is not authentic, then the program will alert the customers about the same.

Microsoft said that the piracy ring located in China produced high-quality pirated software. In many cases, the company found out that the customers paid full price or close to the full price thinking that the software they are buying is genuine. The company also said that if the company is convinced that the customers have indeed been cheated by piracy, then it would replace the pirated software if the customers would send the counterfeit installation discs.

The FBI said that the police action was an “unprecedented co-operative effort” that had seized 290,000 counterfeit software CDs.