The BSA, whose members include Microsoft, Adobe, Network
Associates, Symantec and Macromedia, claims that three cases
forwarded to its European Internet Investigation team by local law
enforcement authorities involve teenagers who have developed
"illegal business practices."
In the UK, the BSA says, a 16-year old still at school has been
prosecuted for selling pirated software on auction web sites.
According to the BSA, a minor has also been prosecuted in
Switzerland for advertising and selling pirated software on a
classifieds web site, whilst another Swiss juvenile has been
convicted of copyright and trade mark infringement and unfair
competition for selling pirated software CDs. The BSA said that the
local court imposed fines and "future internet restrictions."
The group, which claims that software piracy "might be the first
step towards other related criminal activities" said that the
number of juveniles targeted by law enforcement for software piracy
is increasing, and is urging parents to pay more attention to their
children's on-line activities.
At the same time, the Motion Picture Association of America
(MPAA) said it filed copyright infringement lawsuits against nine
on-line vendors, who were allegedly selling hundreds of pirated
DVDs over internet auction sites. The suits were filed in
California, New Jersey, Alabama, Virginia, Florida, Nevada, Kansas
and Connecticut.
According to the MPAA, sales of pirated films have almost
doubled in 2002 and 95% of on-line sales of such material occurs on
eBay. There is no suggestion that eBay is involved in any
fraudulent activity and the company is not named in any of the
suits.
