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Microsoft Applauds Strong Piracy Conviction

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

August 9, 2007, 10:39 AM

Microsoft applauded a federal court's decision Thursday to jail a man convicted of hawking faked certificates of authenticity for the company's software. Judge Orinda D. Evans of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia sentenced Justin Harrison to 46 months in prison for his participation in the crime ring. Harrison ran Sales International, which participated in the trafficking of the certificates.

"The sentence recognizes the value of intellectual property and the threat that software piracy presents to the global economy and consumers throughout the world," Microsoft said in a statement. The case, which was investigated by the FBI, found that Sales International was distributing Microsoft software with the faked certificates.

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By poeg

posted Aug 12, 2007 - 7:59 PM

"The sentence recognizes the value of intellectual property"

So they owed him time then?

Score: 0

By Lunacy

posted Aug 10, 2007 - 5:22 PM

Why is nobody crying for Microsoft? This poor struggling company which creates only 100% original ideas and has never hurt anyone or any other company in its existence. To think someone would do such a thing, it's like mugging an old woman on her way to church, it's just wrong!

Anyone versed in sarcasm? :-D

Score: 0

By zridling

posted Aug 10, 2007 - 12:24 AM

Yet Microsoft itself encourages rampant piracy in China to gain false marketshare. Go figure.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Aug 9, 2007 - 1:23 PM

Those are pretty hard to fake, he'll be working for the feds when he gets out.

Score: 0

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