Jail term for pirating software

Two software professionals who sold pirated Microsoft software were jailed yesterday.

They bought genuine Microsoft software to get a permission agreement and added pirated software to it to make buyers believe they were buying the genuine article, the Pudong New Area People's Court heard.

The court sentenced Xu Chufeng to two and a half years with probation and Jiang Haiyu to three years with probation for copyright infringement. They were each fined about 150,000 yuan (US$21,994) and ordered to return their illegal income of about 290,000 yuan to Microsoft.

Xu, 35, was a software salesman in Great Wall Software and System Co Ltd, the general agency of Microsoft in China.

He learned in July 2006 that Dumex Nutrition Dairy Co Ltd wanted to buy 339 sets of Microsoft software of seven types with a total value of nearly 400,000 yuan.

"Microsoft usually gives an open permission agreement to the user to allow the user to use the genuine software," Xu told police. "I just need to buy one type of software and add the rest to the blank space in the agreement. The buyer will then believe all the types of software are genuine."

Xu discussed the plan with Jiang, his friend with whom he used to run Shanghai Chengtian Scientific Technology Co Ltd, and promised that users wouldn't find the software was pirated since he had a password that enabled the software to be installed and used normally, the court was told.

Jiang then signed a contract with a Microsoft agency in the name of Chengtian to buy 67 genuine sets of Windows XP.

After Jiang received the agreement issued by Microsoft, the duo printed the other six types of software Dumex wanted in the blank space in the agreement.

The pair made an illegal profit of more than 290,000 yuan.

Their plot came unstuck in October 2006 when Dumex called Microsoft with some technical queries but was told it had only bought Windows XP.

Dumex complained to Microsoft and Microsoft reported the matter to the police.

Jiang was arrested in December 2007 and Xu surrendered himself to the police soon after.