Today Microsoft Corp. announced efforts to shut down alleged international software smuggling operations. As part of that effort, Microsoft has filed nine lawsuits and issued more than 50 cease and desist letters.

Companies in Jordan and elsewhere have made millions of dollars in illegal profits by trafficking in specially priced academic software diverted from education programs, according to allegations in the lawsuit complaints. This software was passed off to consumers in the United States who unknowingly lacked the license to use it. The lawsuits were filed in federal courts in California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada and Montana.

“To those who say software piracy is a victimless crime, I would say this case tells a different story,� said Bonnie MacNaughton, senior attorney at Microsoft. “The defendants in these lawsuits and others are charged with profiting from selling clearly marked educational software to unsuspecting retail customers who were not licensed to use it — and potentially depriving students and schools of the opportunity to benefit from the latest technologies.�

Microsoft routinely works with governments and public agencies around the world to provide heavily discounted software to the global academic community. Through these programs, students and schools are provided with access to the latest technologies that they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Today’s lawsuits allege that companies in Jordan and elsewhere posing as academic resellers obtained hundreds of thousands of copies of discounted Microsoft® Windows® and Office system software intended for students in the region. These companies reaped millions of dollars in illegal profits by allegedly selling the software to Internet retailers in the United States rather than supplying it to the students. Many of the Internet retailers, in turn, allegedly made hefty profits by selling the software at retail prices to unsuspecting American consumers who were deceived into buying software that was not licensed for their use.

“Jordan has invested heavily in transforming itself into a full-fledged knowledge economy,� said His Excellency Eng. Basem Rousan, Jordan’s minister of Information and Communications Technology. “Companies that break Jordan’s intellectual property laws will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.� Investigations are being pursued in other countries where a similar scheme has been used.

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