The activities of internet trading outfit Zoobon first came to
light after Microsoft received a number of complaints from Zoobon
customers unhappy with the quality of the products they had been
sold.
In an investigation lasting over a year, Microsoft, in
collaboration with eBay, identified the sources of the counterfeit
software and the people behind the operation.
Following the investigation, an out-of-court settlement was
reached with the individuals behind Zoobon, under which they have
ceased trading and given undertakings not to sell counterfeit
Microsoft software in the future. They have also paid very
substantial damages to Microsoft.
“We take our responsibility seriously to protect consumers and
legitimate channel partners from counterfeit software,” said
Michala Alexander, Microsoft head of anti-piracy. “This was a major
counterfeit operation selling goods which were hard to distinguish
from the genuine article. By working with eBay, Zoobon has been
taken out of business.”
The action is the latest in an ongoing Microsoft campaign
against software piracy.
Earlier this week the software giant announced that it was
working together with eBay to stop the sale of pirate software on
the online auction site. Between them, the two firms were able to
remove over 21,000 suspect software sales from the UK site between
August and October this year.
The crack down has been aided by eBay’s VeRO programme, which
enables the rapid removal of infringing listings on eBay.
