As reported by the FBI:
"For Immediate Release
DATE: July 23, 2007
INTERNATIONAL
INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED JOINTLY BY FBI AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES
IN PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA RESULTS IN MULTIPLE ARRESTS IN CHINA AND
SEIZURES OF COUNTERFEIT MICROSOFT AND SYMANTEC SOFTWARE
A joint
investigation conducted by the FBI and authorities with the People’s
Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has
resulted in multiple arrests and the seizure of more than a half
billion dollars worth of counterfeit software, announced J. Stephen
Tidwell, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, and
Steven Hendershot, the FBI’s Legal Attache in Beijing, China.
The
operation, codenamed “Summer Solstice,” began in 2005 and since then,
law enforcement in both countries have worked closely by sharing
information to jointly investigate multinational conspiracies by groups
who manufacture and distribute counterfeit software products around the
world. This unprecedented cooperative effort led to the arrest of
twenty five individuals, the search of multiple businesses and
residential locations, asset seizures by the Chinese government worth
over $7 million, and the seizure of over 290,000 counterfeit software
CDs and COAs (certificates of authenticity) in China. The counterfeit
software has an estimated retail value of $500 million. In addition,
Agents with the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office executed 24 searches and
asset seizure warrants, yielding approximately $2 million in
counterfeit software products, in addition to assets seized by the U.S.
government worth over $700,000.
Operation Summer Solstice
encompasses multiple investigations currently being conducted by the
FBI in Los Angeles and the MPS, Economic Crime Investigation Department
(ECID), in which criminal organizations responsible for manufacturing
and distributing counterfeit software have been identified in both
Shanghai and Shenzhen; as were distributors located in the United
States.
As much as I protested WGA (Windows Genuine
Advantage) being added to Windows XP, I have no objections to it being
included as a part of Windows Vista. My reasoning? WGA was not part of
XP when the license was purchased and the initial software caused many
headaches. However, with a brand new operating system in Windows Vista,
it is known that WGA is included from the start.
Complete report at
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Via
Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog
Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...
Posted
Jul 24 2007, 10:03 PM
by
Corrine
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