McAfee and Symantec are to sue software pirates who are
selling counterfeit copies of their anti-virus software on
eBay.
The action comes as part of a wider anti-piracy initiative
launched by the US Software & Information Industry Association
(SIIA) this week.
The SIAA is buying copies of software from eBay sellers to
discover whether it is illegal or not.
Those found to be selling such goods risk lawsuits for damages.
McAfee and Symantec are now involved in three actions against
individuals, who allegedly sold thousands of items of pirated
software in the last quarter of 2005.
Ebay says it is the responsibility of trademark holders to
protect their brands, despite widespread theft often being
conducted across its selling infrastructure.
Ebay claims it takes down all items found to be counterfeit,
although it can not know this for sure unless it actually buys
suspect items to inspect them.
