Symantec has secured its ‘largest ever’ European piracy settlement from a UK distributor after a crackdown on illegal software.

The vendor filed a case against Essex-based Nusoft Trading Limited, for dealing in 35,000 copies of counterfeit pcAnywhere. Nusoft was ordered to pay Symantec £700,000 in damages and costs, and has been subject to a court order that bars them from selling illegal Symantec software in the future.

Nusoft is also accountable for a further possible £1m if information about its distribution and sales network turns out to be faulty or inaccurate, or if it continues to deal in counterfeit Symantec software.

Symantec has also taken enforcement action and obtained settlements against other firms involved in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit pcAnywhere software, including a German replicator and several distributors.

John Brigden, senior vice president EMEA at Symantec, said: “This is a good example of Symantec's policy of taking robust action against people who deal in counterfeit software. While the amount of damages is certainly significant, more importantly, our goal was to put a stop to this operation's dealings in counterfeit Symantec software and to protect any unsuspecting users from using fraudulent security software.

“We were also able to secure all information from this business regarding their production and distribution process, and intend to use that information to press the case against others involved. It is very difficult for the average user to be able to tell counterfeit software from legitimate software. As a result, we encourage them to buy only from known and credible software outlets and not take any chances with counterfeit software that won’t work properly, and may disrupt their system."