MPO made thousands of unauthorised copies of Microsoft server
software under fake licences and copies of the software are still
turning up for sale.
In one month in 2003, MPO's Thai subsidiary produced 20,000 fake
copies of Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server software. In the year
following that the copies were detected and traced back to the Thai
MPO facility.
That factory said that it produced the copies under a licence
which it believed to be genuine but which turned out to be
fake.
Once MPO found out what had happened it co-operated with
Microsoft on a worldwide investigation to find the
still-circulating copies of unauthorised software, which Microsoft
has praised.
"We appreciate the steps MPO has taken to tighten their security
procedures to prevent a recurrence of this type of wholesale
counterfeiting of Microsoft software, and to help track down all
those responsible for distributing the counterfeits," said David
Finn, Associate General Counsel at Microsoft for Worldwide
Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting.
“We are pleased to have settled this case with the MPO Group so
quickly and look forward to an ongoing relationship with them,”
said Finn.
Software fraud in the UK is often pursued by the Business
Software Alliance, which earlier this month issued claims in the
courts against two organisations it says are using unlicensed
software.
Teleconferencing company ACT of Harrow and law firm Thompson
& Co of Tooting Broadway were the subject of court action in
early December.
The BSA said in the High Court that ACT was using illegal
software on 125 machines, while it claimed in the Central London
County Court that Thompson had unauthorised software running on 23
PCs. In each case the software was predominantly the Microsoft
Office suite.
"The BSA takes a hard line against the blatant disregard of
software licensing regulations,” said Sarah Coombes, director of
legal affairs at the BSA. “The BSA and its members are happy to
advise and work with companies that need guidance with regard to
software licensing and help them through the compliance process, so
there is no excuse. Those who deliberate use illegal software and
consistently refuse to comply can expect to face serious
consequences.”
The BSA says that it is currently pursuing investigations of 100
UK companies for software licence infringement.
