It's clear to see that Microsoft Corp. is getting tired of all the lawsuits it's been having to deal with lately so they've decided to strike back with ten suits of their own. Microsoft is targeting companies who allegedly pirated software for selling 'nor-for-resale' Microsoft software to unknowing customers.

Seven of the ten lawsuits are in California, Maryland, New York, Texas and Virginia. They were filed against the misuse of MAPS (Microsoft Action Pack Subscriptions). This is a beneficial program for eligible Microsoft partners to receive discounted Microfost materials for evaluation or internal use.

Microsoft claimed that nine of these individual illegally obtained the software and then knowingly broke the contract agreement when they attempted to sell the acquired software on the Internet's popular auction Web site Ebay.

The three other suits were filed against companies in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, charging them with counterfeit software abuses.

Keith Kupferschmid, vice president of intellectual property and enforcement at the Software Industry and Information Association said, "The problem is we're confronted with peer-to-peer piracy and those selling software on eBay illegally� We are likely to see more court proceedings and lawsuits in the future."

Microsoft has recently won a court case against Zoobon, another company who was making a fortune selling counterfeited software on E-bay, from which they had to pay substantial damages to the software giant.