Progress against piracy

When Chinese law enforcement authorities in July rounded up members of two criminal organisations allegedly responsible for US$500 million in counterfeit software, it was hailed by the FBI and software vendors as a considerable blow to high quality Chinese counterfeiters.

The 25 arrests, which included Ma Kei Pei — indicted in the US in 2003 before fleeing to China for allegedly creating fake Microsoft programs — represent the first results of an increased anti-piracy partnership between US and Chinese authorities.

Such a working relationship is no small matter when dealing with a country long regarded as the world's prime source of illegally copied goods, but now widely regarded as trying to whitewash its image before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

For US-based software vendors, the arrests were good news for numerous reasons. The break-up of a piracy syndicate results in less fake merchandise on the streets, but it is also a symbolic victory, signaling likely future busts, says Chris Paden, public relations manager at Symantec, a company whose software Ma Kei Pei is accused of replicating.

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