Next Time Let’s Sting the Food & Drug Counterfeiters

Posted on July 25, 2007
by Maureen Keene

Today the New York Times reported that a joint sting operation by the FBI and the Chinese government has led to the bust of a sophisticated software piracy outfit in China. Hundreds of millions of dollars in counterfeit Microsoft software were seized and 25 people were arrested.

David Finn, an associate general counsel at Microsoft, credits consumer involvement in helping to shut down the operation.

The suspects did not produce cheap copies, according to Microsoft. “This was a deluxe counterfeit software operation of a very high level,” Mr. Finn said. The discs were often sold at or near the price of legitimate software, he said, adding, “We’re not talking about selling these discs for a $1 on street corners.”

The consumers who sent in the pirated discs were apparently unaware they had purchased illegal software until a notification popped up on their screens — an antipiracy feature the company calls Microsoft Genuine Advantage. Mostly, Mr. Finn said, they were irate they had been sold pirated software. “We’ve never seen so much involvement by individual customers in the evidence-building process,” he said.

I applaud the consumers who took action in this case as well as the efforts of the Chinese government and the FBI. It’s not surprising, however, that a powerhouse like Microsoft would receive government assistance in both the U.S. and China in bringing counterfeiters who are costing the company extremely large sums of money to justice. But where is the sting operation for counterfeit food and drug ingredients or lead coated toys? Isn’t it a crime to intentionally poison our food supply, murder our pets, and subject our children to possible brain damage and even death? And how hard would it be for law enforcement in both the U.S. and China to uncover the “open secret” of using illegal chemicals to cut costs and increase profits at the expense of health and lives?

Law enforcement attention should be devoted to companies putting poison in our food, medicine and children’s products. Protecting health and lives should be the first priority, and corporate profits should be a distant second.

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