| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JULY 26, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- EUROPEAN COVER STORY
On the Trail of Software Piracy The Investigation OCTOBER, 1996 Concerned about growing software piracy in Europe, Microsoft hires former San Diego police officer and money-laundering investigator Fred Mathews. AUGUST, 1997 Mathews discovers a state-of-the art software replication plant near Cambridge, England. He tracks the ownership of the plant to John Staud, a 37-year-old Texan with a home and bank accounts in Luxembourg. Cambridge police decline to take part in the investigation. The Raid JULY 27, 1998 Mathews learns from a source that the Cambridge plant is planning a large shipment of pirated software to Germany. A few days later, the shipment leaves Britain, despite Mathews' calls to police to stop it. JULY 31 At Mathews' request, customs officials in Germany seize the truck with $60 million in counterfeit software. SAME AFTERNOON Receiving a call that the shipment is in trouble, Staud drives to Germany--and is arrested. MIDNIGHT After Cambridge police refuse to raid the plant, Mathews obtains a civil search warrant and launches a raid with Microsoft lawyers. The Aftermath JUNE 15, 1999 Staud is found guilty, following a one-month trial, of importing pirated software into Germany. He is sentenced to four years in jail--by far Europe's toughest ruling on software piracy. He now faces prosecution in Britain. JULY, 1999 Mathews is following 120 additional cases of piracy of Microsoft software in Europe. They range from replication plants in Bulgaria to Web businesses hawking pirated programs. DATA: BUSINESS WEEK _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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 RELATED ITEMS How Microsoft Busted the Euro-Pirates (int'l edition) EUROPEAN COVER IMAGE: Piracy! TABLE: On the Trail of Software Piracy CHART: Key Markets for Counterfeiters INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
