SIIA Files Piracy Lawsuits Against Amazon.com, iOffer Sellers

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) extended their online software Anti-Piracy Campaign today with what they are saying are the first-ever lawsuits against sellers on Amazon.com and iOffer.com.

In a press release released today (PDF), the SIAA announced the filing of eight new lawsuits against illegal software sellers. The new round includes SIIA’s first-ever lawsuits against illegal software sellers on Amazon.com and iOffer.com. These latest actions bring the total number of online auction site lawsuits the SIIA has filed this year on behalf of its member companies to 40.

“In the current economic climate, when consumer confidence is already low, it is essential that consumers are able to purchase software online knowing that it is legal and will function properly. Illegal sellers tempt consumers with low prices, but the software often doesn’t work and, of course, comes without the full range of customer support offered by manufacturers,” said Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA SVP of Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement.

“The new lawsuits are part of SIIA’s continued aggressive pursuit of online software pirates through both the civil and criminal processes,” Kupferschmid said. “We are sending a clear message about the lengths to which we will go to protect our member companies, unsuspecting consumers and legitimate software vendors.”

Earlier this year we reported that the SIAA had filed a total of 32 lawsuits against eBay sellers accused of selling counterfeit or pirated software. Scott Bain, SIIA's litigation counsel, has said several of those defendants have settled the cases, with many paying as much as five figure penalties.

Today's lawsuits charged all of the following with knowingly selling software, including Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Acrobat 8.0, illegally on auction sites eBay, Amazon.com, and iOffer:
Darwin Mieles, Miami, FL (Seller ID: “dm42017”); Aiden O’Connors, Santa Cruz, CA
(Seller ID: “blackwolfblooks”); La’Kieta Prosper, Orlando, FL (Seller ID: “lakieta”);
Adrian Garibaldi, Carrollton, TX (Seller ID: “abtechnology”); Manual Marmoletos, New
York, NY (Seller ID: “marmomn”); Randy Peek, Toledo, OH (Seller ID: “randy4112”);
Tony Kornrumpf, Lookout Mountain, TN (Seller ID: “cyberpcs”); and an unnamed seller
from Los Angeles, CA (Seller ID: “topsoftware1”).

In some cases, the software is counterfeit, and in other cases, sellers are selling software packaged for educational or OEM (original equipment manufacturer) use to other buyers.

Software Piracy May Be eBay's Next Legal Hurdle

The Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) has been keeping a close eye on eBay and the voluminous amount of counterfeit software that is being listed on the popular auction site. The shear volume of counterfeit software has raised red flags for the SIAA, so much so that they are now contemplating a law suit that would be representing hundreds of software vendors.

The SIAA has made several attempts at helping eBay reduce sales of illegal software. Despite a few years of discussions, eBay refuses to do more than just take down auctions of software that the SIIA has identified as pirated.

"Once notified, they will do something," Keith Kuperschmid, senior VP of intellectual property policy and enforcement for SIIA, told InformationWeek. "What they won't do is what we consider pre-emptory, proactive measures."

Those measures include placing a notification in the buyer feedback section that the seller has had pirated items removed from the site; penalize sellers of illegal software, even if it's their first offense; and develop technology to try to find repeat offenders who use multiple identities on eBay.

The reason the SIIA wants eBay to do more is because so much pirated software is sold on the site that the group can't identify all the offenders, Kuperschmid said. The SIIA estimates that 75% of the software sold on eBay is illegal.

EBay's refusal to take these steps has led to SIIA discussions of taking eBay to court. The latest talks among members were in May. SIIA members include many big names in software, such as IBM and Oracle.

Over the last several months eBay has faced many challenges in courts over counterfeit goods. Should the SIAA proceed with a lawsuit it would likely be one of the first and largest such suits focus on copyright infringement instead of trademark infringement, as in previous cases.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 and other copyright law sets out strong standards for secondary copyright infringement, said Kupferschmid. U.S. copyright law allows lawsuits for vicarious infringement, when the defendant has the ability to stop infringing activity and has a direct financial interest in the infringement.

This year, the SIIA has filed 32 lawsuits against eBay sellers accused of marketing counterfeit software. This week, an Oregon man was sentenced to four years in prison for identity theft and for selling counterfeit software on eBay, after the SIIA complained about him.

Crack Down on Pirated Software Auctions

PC Magazine reports: The SIIA has its eyes on eBay.

That was the message behind a statement released Wednesday by the Software & Information Industry Association, which said it had filed seven suits in a district court in northern California against eight defendants. Each was accused of trying to auction pirated software from Adobe, particularly copies of its Adobe CS3 suite.

Washington, D.C. – February 13, 2008 – The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) announced today it has filed the largest round of lawsuits since launching its auction site anti-piracy program two years ago. SIIA filed nine separate suits in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, on behalf of members Adobe Systems Incorporated and Symantec Corporation. The lawsuits are part of SIIA’s comprehensive program to battle rampant auctioning of pirated software.

Two suits were also filed against eBay sellers two weeks ago, naming two more defendants; one was accused of selling pirated Adobe Photoshop CS3 software, while the other involved the alleged selling of Symantec pcAnywhere 11.0 Host and Remote, pcAnywhere 10.5 Host and Remote and Norton Utilities 8.0 for Macintosh.

“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.”

Of the industry's top names, however, there is one notable exception; a list of the program's participants includes Apple, Adobe, Intuit, McAfee, and Symantec, but doesn't include Microsoft, which has its own methods of dealing with piracy, including working with the FBI.

A representative for Microsoft's Genuine Advantage program said that users who report that they own a pirated piece of Microsoft software, such as Windows, can notify the company at Microsoft's anti-piracy site. If the software meets the company's criteria, the user may be receive a free copy of authentic Microsoft software in exchange. Users that do not meet the criteria may be referred back to the Genuine Advantage department for a discounted copy of the software, the representative said.