Argh Matey! SIIA Sues Two Alleged Software Pirates

In what could be considered damning evidence against the purported safety of
Internet auctions, civil suits against two software pirates caught in a
sting operation were filed in U.S. District Court Thursday by a coalition of
outfits that calls itself the Software & Information Industry Association
(SIIA).


Plaintiffs in the case include software luminaries and SIIA members Adobe
Systems Inc., Alias Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited, and
Macromedia, all of whom alleged that Michael Chu and Julian Kish sold
pirated software worth thousands of dollars to SIIA.


Each man faces fines of as much as $150,000 per violation for copyright
infringement.


The suit against Chu, who is alleged to have sold 22 software titles with a
retail value of $54,745 to SIIA for $144.85, has been filed in U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of California. The suit against Julian Kish,
alleged to have sold six software titles with a retail value of $5,594 to
SIIA for $50, has been filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of Illinois.


But the issue deals with more than just a pair of possible crooks as SIIA
also mounted an assault aimed at Internet auctions, which it feels enabled
Chu and Kish to pull off the piracy. SIIA published a white
paper
detailing how pirates are turning better than a 90 percent profit
margin from sales of illegitimate software on Internet auctions.


The paper said pirates also enjoy virtual anonymity through multiple screen
names, and manipulate differing rules among Internet auction providers to
cull email addresses of bidders on software auctions, creating a kind of
crooked marketing channel.


The study also offers resources for consumers to recognize illegitimate
software on auction sites, with real e-mail examples.


SIIA president Ken Wasch said pirates turning to online auctions is a
no-brainer.


“Auction sites provide relative anonymity and relatively free access to
thousands of customers,” Wasch said in a statement Thursday.

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

News Around the Web