A big case of cross-border piracy of Microsoft software was recently tried in Futian District court of Shenzhen city in Guangdong province. A total of 11 criminals were sued, and the longest sentence is 6 and half years in prison together with a fine of 1.5 million Renminbi yuan. The case was jointly investigated and handled by Ministry of Public Security in China and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation).
Three leading criminals were sentenced to prison ranging from 6.5 years to 3.6 years, together with fines from 1.5 million Renminbi yuan to 400,000 Renminbi yuan. The remaining criminals also were sentenced to prison from 1 year ot 3 years. It is reported that this is the joint campaign named “Summer Solstice” between Chinese Ministry of Public Security and FBI, which started in july 0f 2007. They have successfully uncovered the gang crimes related to the manufacturing and distributing of Microsoft's software including WindowsXP Professional, WindowsXP Family and Office2003.
