Chinese court convicts 11 in software piracy ring

Seattle PI | at | by Mike

A court in southern China convicted 11 people Wednesday of violating national copyright laws and participating in a sophisticated counterfeiting ring that for years manufactured and distributed pirated Microsoft software throughout the world.

The men were sentenced by a court in Shenzhen to between 1 1/2 and 6 1/2 years in prison, according to court papers released late Wednesday.

Microsoft applauded the sentence in a statement released late Wednesday Beijing time, saying they were the stiffest sentences ever handed down in this type of Chinese copyright infringement case.