Symantec, with the help of Microsoft, had been
investigating Li Chen for over two years, according to reports,
before it had sufficient evidence to contact authorities.
In November 2004 the Houston Police Department and the FBI
raided Chen’s business premises, seizing more than 5,100 units of
counterfeit Symantec software. They also found documents revealing
that, between April 2002 and October 2004, Chen sold counterfeit
Symantec software with a retail value of more than $9.9
million.
Chen was arrested and as part of a plea bargain has now agreed
to pay restitution of over $1 million to Symantec and $95,000 to
Microsoft, according to reports.
"Symantec is committed to vigorously battling software piracy
and protecting the interests of our customers,” said William Baird,
Symantec's Global Investigations manager.
“This case was helped significantly by customers who sent
samples of counterfeit software to Symantec's Brand Protection Task
Force," he added.
According to Symantec, it has been awarded over $19.5 million in
damages from anti-piracy actions since September 2003. Microsoft
meanwhile launched its latest round of court actions against
software pirates earlier this month, filing eight suits against
firms across the US for allegedly distributing counterfeit
Microsoft products, or infringing upon copyrighted software.
