The famous producer of Norton Antivirus filed lawsuits against eight companies, accusing them for distributing illegal copies of their software. Acortech, (California), mPlus, (California), Logical Plus, (New York), SoftwareOutlets.com, (Florida), Rowcal Distribution, (California), Global Impact, Inc., (Florida), Directron.com, (Texas) and eDirect Software, (Canada) were all sent to the judge, Symantec requiring $4 million to $10 million in damages. It seems that the eight companies managed to distribute pirated versions of Norton SystemWorks, Norton Antivirus, Norton Internet Security, pcAnywhere and Symantec Antivirus Small Business Edition.

"Counterfeit software might not work properly and damage a user's machine, or it can be loaded with identity theft programs. Counterfeit software also may not be able to receive automatic updates and as a result leave the user vulnerable to new online threats. These software pirates were moving large quantities of counterfeit product and, as a result, numerous unsuspecting users are now at risk for having their information stolen or lost," said Scott Minden, director, Legal Affairs, Symantec, in a press release published on the company's website.

The pirated versions of the software solutions were always an important problem for the computer owners from all around the world because they provide different results than the licensed product does. However, a counterfeited version of an application is also damaging the producer's image because the users might be strongly disappointed and describe the product as not efficient. This way, the company's sales and profits are affected while the future products might be acquired by fewer clients.

In the past, Microsoft was surely the most affected company by the software pirates, because its famous Windows operating system was often attacked by numerous users attempting to use the application without a valid license. The Redmond company tried to fight against the piracy and developed Windows Genuine Advance Notification, a special application that blocks unauthorized use of the operating system.