"Unprecedented" joint US-China software crackdown
25 July 2007
A joint investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Chinese authorities yesterday led to 25 arrests and the seizure of 290,000 counterfeit software CDs worth an estimated US$500 million, the Financial Times reported. The crackdown was a "milestone in the fight against software piracy," the FBI said, and an unprecedented joint effort between the FBI and local authorities to quell Sino-US tensions over intellectual property violations. According to the Business Software Alliance, 82% of the software used in personal computers in China is pirated.