The FBI, US Attorney’s Office, US Internal Revenue Service and industry representatives believe they have smashed a software counterfeiting ring operating across several US states. The authorities carried out raids at the weekend following a five month investigation of computer software sales at MarketPro computer shows in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Memphis and Tennessee. During the raid at the MarketPro show in Indianapolis, officials seized software and hardware being sold under the names of Autodesk Inc, Adobe Systems Inc and the Software Publishers Association, as well as financial records and CD-ROM duplicating equipment. The software is thought to have been duplicated and sold by the Atlanta Group of companies from Indiana, at the MarketPro shows. According to the FBI’s Chief Division Counsel, Supervisory Special Agent Douglas Garrison, the company has been trading under several names such as Atlanta Microsystems and Atlanta Consulting. The FBI first became aware of the alleged counterfeit operation when it was alerted by San Rafael, California-based Autodesk, which was tipped off by an informant who told the company they thought fake AutoDesk products were being sold at a MarketPro show in Memphis. Counterfeiting software is a federal offence under US law, and can result in fines of up to $250,000 and prison sentences of up to five years. But according to Garrison there were no arrests made at the weekend. The FBI will now make a report and present it with the evidence it has gathered, to the US Attorney’s Office, who will then decide whether to take further action and prosecute the individuals involved, a process that is likely to take several months.
