China sentences 11 for Software Piracy

A court in Shenzhen, China has reportedly sentenced 11 members with the defendants getting between one and a half and six and half years in prison, according to Microsoft.

The sentences included the longest sentences handed down for software piracy in China’s history, the company said in a press release. Microsoft, as well as hundreds of customers and partners, assisted in the investigation by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Futian People’s Court handed down the sentences.

The defendents were accused of manufacturing and distributing US $2 billion worth of counterfeited Microsoft software, Microsoft said.

Among the counterfeit products were Windows XP, Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2003. The copies were available in English, simplified Chinese, Spanish, German, Korean and other languages.