eBay, a Pawn in the Fight Against Pirated Software

How an online auction site could get implicated in the fight against piracy is a pretty delicate thing, reputation wise, except for the eventuality of it using the software in question. However, the Software & Information Industry Association brought the idea home after suing several eBay auctioneers.

The largest action part of the campaign to stop the auctioning of pirated software has been started in California, SIIA filing nine separate suits in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, on behalf of members Adobe Systems and Symantec, as News Factor reports. "Our goal is to give illegal software sellers a rude awakening, so that unsuspecting software buyers and legitimate sellers are protected. For too long, auction sellers have been able to sell pirated software while risking only the removal of their auction. SIIA has upped the ante by bringing those who pirate software to justice in court," Keith Kupferschmid, Senior Vice President of SIIA’s anti piracy division, told the cited source.

The lawsuits are a part of the Auction Litigation Program, which roughly means that the members of the association members have their products traced on online auction sites and when there’s piracy involved, the auctioneers are sued in the company’s behalf. "Online auctioning of pirated software hurts both business and consumers," Scott Bain, litigation counsel said. "When consumers buy cheap, illegal software, they get no support and often find they've spent good money on bad software. In addition to taking legal action against software pirates, SIIA is giving consumers tools to help them fight back."

Should one buyer, finding himself scammed into purchasing pirated software, decide to get even with the seller, he can apply for SIIA’s Don’t Get Mad, Get Even campaign, which will reward him for turning the pirate in, with money to buy the legal copies, if he can provide the proof.

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