On May 25, 2006, the third and final defendant in the Operation Remaster prosecution pleaded guilty to five federal criminal counts yesterday afternoon. The defendants in the Operation Remaster case were arrested after law enforcement seized approximately 494,000 pirated music, software, and movie CDs, and DVDs, and more than 5,500 stampers from locations in California and Texas. (A single stamper can be used to manufacture 50,000 to 80,000 counterfeit CDs of a single copyrighted work.) According to the Justice Department, many of the pirated CDs contained counterfeit FBI Anti-Piracy Seals, record label trademarks, silk-screened artwork, and inserts to make them appear legitimate. The copyright and trademark violations mostly involved musical works by Latin artists. As part of his plea agreement, the defendant agreed to forfeit the counterfeit CDs, stampers, masters, and inserts as well as his interest in equipment used to commit the violations, including a replication machine, a DVD copier, a CD label machine, an offset printer, two overwrapping machines, and two shrink wrapping machines.
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TUCSON - The U.S. Attorney?�?��?��s Office for the District of Arizona announced that on May
29, defendants Wei Tung Lam and Sau Kuen Chan pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to bribe a public official and to traffic in counterfeit merchandise. Lam, a resident of Gambia and a native of the People?�?��?��s Republic of China, also pleaded guilty to an additional count of trafficking in counterfeit goods. The two were the last of five defendants who were arrested last summer for what is believed to be one of the largest counterfeit merchandise smuggling schemes in U.S. history.
Previously, three co-defendants also entered guilty pleas to conspiracy charges in U.S.
District Court in Tucson. Those defendants and their change of plea dates were: Mark Elias, 37, of El Paso, Texas, on April 30; Manuel Flores, Jr., 53, of El Paso, Texas, on April 13; and Juan Carlos Martinez-Esquer,46, of Sonora, Mexico, on April 10. One other person indicted in the scheme, Peng
Lui, aka ?�?��?�Charleyworld?�?��?, of Hong Kong, remains a fugitive and is believed to reside in China.
The six, two U.S. citizens and four foreign nationals, were indicted last August for
conspiring to smuggle millions of dollars worth of phony merchandise, including fake Nike Air
Jordan athletic shoes, from China into the United States. Authorities seized 78 sea cargo containers
worth more than $69 million worth of counterfeit merchandise as part of the probe, which involved
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The seizures occurred in July 2006 in Nogales and Phoenix, Arizona; Laredo, Texas; and Long
Beach, California..

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The U.S. Government is going after music and software piracy in China.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced today that the United States has requested the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a dispute settlement panel, the next step in its WTO case challenging deficiencies in China?�?��?��s legal regime for protecting and enforcing copyrights and trademarks on a wide range of products.

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The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has settled with two defendants in Symantec Corporation v. Kevin Liu, one of the first lawsuits filed under SIIA’s Auction Litigation Program. Under the settlement, Kevin Liu and G.T. Tian paid $100,000 in damages, agreed to stop selling counterfeit software and provided SIIA with records identifying their customers and suppliers.

An SIAA press release quotes Liu saying, “If I had known that SIIA was checking eBay for software piracy, and if I had known the software was pirated and that I’d have to pay such a high fine, I would have never sold the pirated software to begin with.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) ?�?��?�� A market research firm agreed to pay $300,000 to settle claims that it illegally used and distributed copyright news articles, a trade group that brought the claim said Thursday.

The Software & Information Industry Association said San Francisco-based Knowledge Networks Inc. distributed within the company “press packets” that sometimes included ?�?��?�� without authorization or license ?�?��?�� copyright articles owned by The Associated Press, United Press International and trade publisher Reed Elsevier PLC.

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The U.S. House of Representative?�?��?��s passage of the ?�?��?�Patent Reform Act of 2007″ marks a great milestone in software and content copyright laws.?�?� The SIAA had this to say about the new law.

?�?��?�Today?�?��?��s action is a significant step forward for maintaining America?�?��?��s global competitiveness,?�?��? said Ken Wasch, SIIA President. ?�?��?�By modernizing the U.S. patent system, Congress can help ensure that U.S. businesses continue to lead the global knowledge-based economy.?�?��?

?�?��?�The legislation passed with bi-partisan support, demonstrating the universal interest in creating an efficient and fair patent system,?�?��? said SIIA Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Mark Bohannon. ?�?��?�The breadth of support for H.R. 1908 ?�?��?�? ranging from technology companies to those in financial services, as well as agriculture, consumers and Universities ?�?��?�? sends a strong signal to the Senate that affirmative, quick action is needed.?�?��?

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These are some of the benefits of using the new Microsoft SLPS.

Code Protection

We add a new level of sophistication to traditional code protection solutions by providing a unique transformation algorithm that helps keep your sensitive code inaccessible?�?��?��without affecting the functionality of your applications.

License Enforcement

Our strong, flexible, and configurable license management is seamlessly integrated into protected application code to help ensure you of license security and integrity. And our Web-based interface offers a rich set of licensing features, enabling you to easily define licensing attributes that meet your needs.

Innovative Business Models

Create tailored products from a single code base without rebuilding. Products can be easily defined, licenses generated, and customers activated in minutes. You can even create and easily track trial versions?�?��?��and turn any application into a time-limited or try-and-buy version without modifying or recompiling code.

Positive Customer Experience

Our solutions let you offer your customers the ability to purchase what they want, when they want it, and use it how they want. That?�?��?��s the kind of experience any customer would like to have.

Application Management

Microsoft SLP Services helps you bridge your software and your software business. Streamline your software lifecycle management by integrating to CRM, ERP, and billing systems. Bottom line: lower TCO and higher ROI.

This is from the homepage of the new Microsoft SLPS service.

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An organization has stared a whistle blowing program in the U.S. to reward employees who help to combat software and content piracy.?�?� The program offers rewards of up to $1 million U.S. depending on the results of the law suits against the companies.

Washington, DC ?�?��?�?October 1, 2007. The Software & Information Industry Association, the principal trade association for the software and digital information industry, today announced that in September 2007, SIIA paid $39,500 to fourteen sources who reported software piracy. The rewards ranged from $500 to $10,000.

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