World’s largest China, US counterfeit bust
p2pnet news | crime:- FBI agents and Chinese police collaborated to bust two gangs in Shanghai and Shenzhen, seizing counterfeit software worth $500 million, says China Daily.
The gangs were making fake Microsoft and Norton software for sale in the US, the story has Gao Feng, deputy director of the economic crime investigation department of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), stating.
Operation Summer Solstice was the biggest and most successful joint crackdown on software piracy, it says.
In the US, “FBI agents carried out 24 searches, which yielded $2 million in counterfeit software products, in addition to assets seized worth over $700,000,” according to China Daily.
Gao said Chinese police discovered in 2005 that the Chinese gangs were colluding with suspects in the United States and notified the FBI’s Beijing office.
“Countries around the world are expected to experience a significant decrease in the volume of counterfeit software as a direct result of this action,” the Financial Times quotes Microsoft as saying, continuing:
The investigations – which involved action against one pirate syndicate that Microsoft said was believed to be the largest of its kind in the world – could help ease frustration in Washington about a perceived lack of determination among Chinese authorities to crack down on intellectual property violations, an issue that has become a big source of Sino-US friction.
The FBI, which has had a liaison office in Beijing since 2002, stepped up its co-operation with local law enforcement authorities two years ago amid concerns that disputes over piracy were putting the Sino-US trade relationship at risk.
Suspect Ma Kepei, indicted ifor criminal copyright and trademark violations relating to the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit Microsoft products in 2003, and 10 accomplices were arrested in Shanghai, says china Daily, adding:
“Wang Wenhua, Che Tingfeng and 12 accomplices were arrested in Shenzhen.
“All of them have been charged with violations of China’s criminal copyright law and are in custody, according to MPS.”
Also See:
China Daily – China, US police bust pirate gangs, July 25, 2007
Financial Times – China joins FBI in piracy operation, July 24, 2007
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