Microsoft shuts down '£3.5m' software pirate

Microsoft has announced that a UK-based software pirate who allegedly traded more than £3.5m of counterfeit Microsoft software has finally ceased trading.

William Ling was arrested and prosecuted in May 2005 for the sale of illegal software. At the time the court handed him a £10,000 fine, which a Microsoft spokesman said was laughable.

However, Microsoft claims Ling was back trading in counterfeit software from a commercial premises in Kingston-Upon-Thames within two months and hit him with a £12m civil suit for damages based on lost revenues that it calculated.

The Microsoft spokesman claimed Ling had made £1m in profit from his operation.

Today the software giant announced that Ling has made an out-of-court settlement, agreeing to pay substantial damages. He has also given an undertaking not to sell any illegal Microsoft software.

Paul Ramsden, deputy CEO at the Trading Standards Institute, said the victory of Microsoft over Ling represents a win for consumers, as well as for the US software giant, as users who buy knock-off software often have little idea what they could be exposing themselves to when installing illegal software.

Microsoft's news follows an announcement on Wednesday from software giants McAfee and Symantec that they also are aggressively targeting software pirates selling counterfeit software on eBay.