UK Retail Giant Sold Counterfeit Windows, says Microsoft

Days after a police raid in Ghana seized dozens of counterfeit versions of their software, Microsoft has once again set their sights on another international software retailer.

This time they're pursuing legal action against popular UK electronics company Comet, after uncovering the sale of over 94,000 sets of counterfeit Windows CDs.

According to Microsoft, Comet produced counterfeit recovery CDs for Windows Vista and Windows XP before shipping them off to be sold in their stores across the UK.

David Finn, associate general counsel of worldwide anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting at Microsoft, called Comet's actions "unfair to customers" and added that "we expect better from (all) retailers of Microsoft's products".

Comet Admits to Creating Recovery Disks, Denies Any Wrongdoing

Despite the pending lawsuit, Comet representatives remain adamant that no wrongdoing had taken place.

While the company did admit to creating the alleged CDs, they do not feel as if Microsoft's intellectual property was jeopardized as a result of their actions.

In a recent statement, Comet outlined how they have since "sought and received legal advice from leading counsel to support their view that the production of recovery discs did not infringe Microsoft's intellectual property."

The statement went on to say that Comet believes they acted with the very best interests of their customers in mind. (Source: itpro.co.uk)

Microsoft Still Sympathetic to "Accidental Pirates"

Microsoft says it is sympathetic to end-users who accidentally purchase counterfeit software and continues to stress that they are not at fault throughout this entire ordeal.

The company went on to urge anyone concerned that they might be in the possession of counterfeit software, including recovery CDs, to visit the "How to Tell" page available on their corporate website.

The news could not have come at a more trying time for Comet, who is in the midst of being sold to the private equity firm OpCapita. It is unknown whether any changes to the proposed acquisition will be made in light of these counterfeit software allegations. (Source: reuters.com)