Anti-piracy sweep claims four more

Firms settle with Microsoft out of court

Four more UK resellers have made out-of-court settlements with Microsoft after being caught selling counterfeit software.

The settlements form part of the software giant's anti-piracy push under which the firm announced plans to launch over 1,000 legal cases against UK resellers caught selling counterfeit software.

Manchester-based Planet Micro settled with Microsoft for an undisclosed sum after buying pirated software from an unauthorised distributor.

Dave Collinge, general manager at Planet Micro, said: "We had no idea that the products we were purchasing were counterfeit. In the future we will only be purchasing Microsoft software from authorised suppliers. It's just not worth the risk."

Merseyside Systems Development also bought counterfeit products through the grey market and ended up paying an undisclosed settlement sum to Microsoft.

The firm had been led to believe that the software it was buying was genuine. A representative from Merseyside Systems Development said: "We are keen to protect our customers from the ultimate negative impact of fraudsters and intend to buy only from companies that source their products from Microsoft's authorised channel."

Julia Phillpot, anti-piracy manager at Microsoft UK, said: "[Merseyside Systems Development] is a prime example of an organisation which believed the grey channel represented no risk. This was not the case. It has not only had an impact on the firm financially, but also possibly its image and reputation. We always recommend buying through authorised distributors."

The two other firms to settle out of court were Brighton-based RNG Systems and Micro Communications based in the north of England.