China makes biggest software piracy bust in history
WinInfo | at | by Mike
This week, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, working in concert with its counterparts in the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced the largest software piracy bust in history. The bust, code-named "Operation Summer Solstice," netted more than $500 million in software and 25 arrests, most of which took place in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.
Go figure, but Microsoft's reviled Windows Genuine Advantage technology played a role in the bust. According to the company, more than 1000 customers in 12 different countries had unknowingly purchased pirated software from Chinese crime syndicates, discovered their software was illegitimate via WGA, and reported the crime to Microsoft using software tools designed for that purpose.