90% of software sold on eBay is not copyrighted

Some online computer software sellers eBay have been accused by the US Information and Software Industry Association (SIIA) of acts of illegally supplying products.

Scott Bain, SIIA's litigation lawyer, said the case added to the nine petitions filed by the organization in February 2008 and was the 25th consecutive year that eBay users had to go to court at SIIA's request.

Most recently, the litigation took place in the Northern California District Court to protect the legal rights of Adobe Systems. According to the indictment, eBay users in some US states are illegally trading in some versions of Photoshop CS3 and many other software.

Photos of eBay are shaken by a free auction of service users.

The association suggested that the company take measures to cut off the versions of counterfeit software sold on the website. However, online auction service providers do not agree. According to information from Vice President Keith Kupferschmid in charge of SIIA's anti-piracy unit, even eBay removed from the organization's electronic banner system, which carried out propaganda to guide customers to avoid use pirated software. The association estimates that up to 90% of software sold on eBay is copyright infringement.

Consecutive claims are broadcast in SIIA's unprecedented grand campaign to stop buying and selling among customers who accidentally buy pirated software and sellers can participate completely in the network. Auction.

To date, eBay has taken measures to limit software sales online. Spokesperson Nichola Sharpe said her company has set a limit on the amount of software each eBay account user is allowed to sell and eliminates the day's auction and 3-day auctions for type of computer program item. In addition, those who want to sell goods are required to be automatically audited through the PayPal electronic payment service system and the Vero (Verified Rights Owner) ownership program, a function that is integrated by the eBay network. from 1989.

However, Ms Sharpe also stated that the number of goods sold on eBay amounted to millions of products, making the Vero inspection system unable to verify the details of each item put into auction. Resulting in a false status of inspection results between contraband goods and legal goods.

In order to avoid buying pirated software, attorney Bain recommends that customers before buying pay attention to the origin of the goods and the price offered. "If the Photophop version worth $ 700 is sold for only $ 100, the difference will not guarantee the legality of the software you intend to buy," he said. In case the customer accidentally buys pirated software, it is possible to reduce the damage by making a refund according to SIIA regulations.