Software piracy lawsuits

Microsoft said that the majority of its piracy cases got started because of tips from its customers. Typically, people report counterfeit software to Microsoft after they find malware and viruses on the items they bought or if the software didn't work correctly. According to Microsoft, , customers have reported pirated software to the company since One of the cases settled was with the Ningbo Beyond Group in China.

In March, Microsoft commissioned a study into the world of pirated software. The study found that 33 percent of the software on the market is counterfeit.

The investigation claims that piracy and counterfeit software runs rampant through the digital universe and that many users might not even be aware that their software is fake. A letter is not a lawsuit, and you will face no legal repercussions if you ignore it. If you receive a settlement letter through your ISP, your name has not yet been revealed to the group that is trying to get your money.

Keep it that way. In this case, if people had given up their names to the film company before the judgment was passed, the company would still be able to sue them—using their names. Some copyright trolls give you the option of settling through a website or over a phone number, and identifying yourself only by your IP address.

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.

These software purchase and licensing negotiations are all an expected part of every Siemens lawsuit representation. As far as low income defendants, again, this is not a category, but I am mentioning it because Siemens considers it when asking a defendant in the other categories to purchase software. In many software products, there are expensive tiers and there are lower cost tiers. There are also lower cost software products. If your income is low or non-existent, this is something that we could speak to the Siemens attorneys on your behalf.

Once the plaintiff attorney learns who you are, unless you are represented by an attorney, he will initiate his investigation as to whether you downloaded, streamed, or viewed the copyrighted video or movie. To avoid the plaintiff attempting to contact you, before he learns who you are [from your ISP], you should hire an attorney to represent you. This means that you should hire an attorney before your ISP shares your contact information with the plaintiff attorney.

Thus, all communications — all phone calls, all letters, all attempts to secure documentation, data, evidence, etc. To hire me as your attorney, schedule a phone consultation so that we can speak about your case. I will happily answer any questions you still have. We will also speak about how much we cost, and I will provide you an estimate of how much it will cost you based on how you want to proceed.

I do not charge for the phone consultation, but I do ask that you respect my time constraints. My ONLY goal is to give you exactly the answers you need which are not always the answers you want. I prefer that if and when you retain me, you know exactly what you are agreeing to, and that you know [as much as possible] the outcome we will be achieving on your behalf.

Before setting up an appointment, if you want to contact me first to tell me about your particular circumstances, you can:. Your Name required. Your Email required. Your Phone. Please tell me a bit about your matter include case number, if relevant. End result: many calls will go into voicemail. BUT I see e-mails and contact forms immediately as soon as they are sent. Thus, instead of leaving a voicemail, please send me an e-mail at [email protected] , or set up a time for us to speak.

NOTE : No attorney client relationship is established by sending this form, and while the attorney-client privilege which keeps everything that you share confidential and private attaches immediately when you contact me, I do not become your attorney until we sign a contract together.

That being said, please do not state anything incriminating about your case when using this form, or more practically, in any e-mail. All Rights Reserved. Does cv , is the subject of a new wave of Siemens Industry Software Inc. This might be the best article you can read on Motions to Quash. Each of these attorneys continue to be genuine in their skills and are capable of taking these cases to trial. Remember, they are looking to sell licenses and in any sales circumstance, prices can be negotiated by your attorney.

Also read the following few articles I have written on their lawsuits: Siemens Industry Software Inc. What to do about the Siemens Industry Software Inc. In Wave 1 and in subsequent waves they dismissed the lawsuit, and filed individual copyright infringement lawsuits against companies they discovered were using their software without a license.

In Wave 2 , Siemens filed a similar lawsuit, this time against new defendants. As a result, they dismissed the entire lawsuit, however, I know that they continued after the dismissal to contact accused defendants or their attorneys with the intention of having those accused defendants [now dismissed] purchase a license to cover their use of the Siemens Industry Software Inc.

NX software. In Wave 3 — 5 , they repeated what was a successful strategy in the previous lawsuits. They spent their time looking for individuals who used pirated versions of their software for profit. In these waves, Siemens Industry Software Inc. They still analyzed each defendant to determine whether they were a running their own engineering business and billing clients using the pirated software , or whether they were b employees or independent contractors working on a project where their employer did not properly license them.

Others used the software for training purposes only for the purpose of one day getting a job where they would need to use that software. In the most recent set of cases, Siemens Industry Software Inc.