Microsoft Sues Activation Key Pirate

Anthony Boldin, of Brookfield, Wisc. is being sued by Microsoft, for the third time, for selling activation keys to Microsoft products. Court documents claim that the software pirate owes the company $1.2 million.

Microsoft claims that Boldin sold activation keys to company investigators from four different websites he maintained. Two of the sites are now shuttered, but two others continue to operate. Without the activation keys, the software becomes a crippled piece of code.

Microsoft has not named the source of the keys, but it has pointed a finger at China. "Over the past several years, criminals in China and elsewhere have created a global black market for decoupled product activation keys that have been stolen from Microsoft's supply chain," the complaint stated. "The decoupled product activation keys end up in the hands of downstream distributors, such as Defendants, who then pass off the stolen keys to the general public as licensed software."

"Microsoft sued Boldin in this Court on two prior occasions for violating its intellectual property rights (in March 2000 and again in December 2006)," the complaint read. "Notably, this Court entered two separate orders permanently enjoining Boldin from any infringing use or distribution of Microsoft software."

Sixteen years have passed and Boldin has not paid any of the judgment levied against him.

Source: Computer World