US software maker Microsoft has filed eight lawsuits against sellers which Microsoft alleges sold counterfeit Microsoft software using E-bay auctions. The eight defendants are located in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York and Washington, respectively.
Microsoft identified seven of the defendants through customer submissions to the company’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme. WGA is an online validation tool for customers to determine whether their software is genuine, giving them the option of submitting counterfeit reports on their suppliers if they did not receive genuine software. Complaints were also made to the company’s anti-piracy hotline.