Lawsuit microsoft piracy

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Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. Microsoft settles thousands of software piracy cases Working to protect its intellectual property, the tech giant settled 3, counterfeiting suits worldwide during the past year. Dara Kerr. This is a bad idea, Neill says, because IP addresses can be dynamic, and keeping your name out of the settlement may get you sued again. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has assembled a list of defense resources for people who have been contacted by their ISP or by a copyright troll.

The list includes a number of lawyers in 33 states who will be willing to assist you, and who have experience with these types of cases. Unfortunately, you should still contact an attorney. Plus, copyright-troll groups are usually spearheaded by attorneys—U. Your attorney will be able to coach you through this decision, but it can help to look at some past cases for precedent. In , Jammie Thomas-Rasset and Joel Tenenbaum made headlines by being the first two people who received settlement letters from the RIAA and refused to settle, which forced their cases into court.

In other words, although she pledges to be unbiased, she may not be terribly sympathetic toward alleged file sharers.

If you have illegally downloaded files, and you are primarily concerned with the financial costs you might incur, it may be in your best interest to settle.

If you cannot afford an attorney, consider looking for a pro bono attorney or contacting a local law school. The lawsuits are the latest in Microsoft's increasingly aggressive steps to curb piracy of its two flagship products — and cash cows— Windows and Office.

The company has begun widespread distribution of a program, called Windows Genuine Advantage, that checks whether users are running legitimate copies of Windows. And it scored a coup earlier this year when China agreed to crack down on piracy.

Redmond-based Microsoft still rakes in billions of dollars in profits from Windows, but the market is growing more saturated. That's left the company more eager to curb illegal copies, in the hopes those users will buy legitimate versions.

Schrade said the intent of the lawsuits isn't necessarily to recoup costs but instead to raise awareness and prevent further piracy. Microsoft has long raised concerns about countries such as China, Russia and India, where piracy is thought to be rampant, but it has more recently increased its monitoring in the United States as well.