In the most extreme legal action by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) to date, lawsuits have been filed against nine eBay sellers accused of selling pirated software to unwitting buyers.

The SIIA filed nine suits to the US District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Adobe Systems Incorporated, and Symantec Corporation. The charges are that the sellers were “knowingly selling illegal copies” of the software.

The SIIA says:

“SIIA has declared war against those who continue to sell pirated software on auction sites such as eBay,” says Keith Kupferschmid, SVP of SIIA’s Anti-Piracy Division. “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.”

The SIIA is a global association that provides government relations and protection for the software and digital content industry. It launched its auction site anti-piracy program almost two years ago. The program’s goal is to work with buyers and sellers to get the word out that pirated software is bad for buyers and sellers. Its “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even” campaign rewards buyers who can prove illegitimate software by offering reimbursement for legitimate packages.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 12:50 pm under Piracy.

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