Symantec is bringing the heat on counterfeiters, and has recently decided to pursue eight firms in the U.S. and Canada for piracy. Seeking a hefty $55M in damages, Symantec claims these companies sold fake software such as various Norton products and pcAnywhere. You'd think if you were going to operate a piracy ring, you'd do so in a country that might have loose copyright law. But, likely these folks follow the money, and Symantec is none to happy about it. Each software vendor is being pegged for $4 to $10 million each.
The security firm is seeking damages of between $4m and $10m from Californian firms Acortech, mPlus, and Rowcal Distribution; Logical Plus, from New York; SoftwareOutlets.com, and Global Impact, Inc, from Florida; Directron.com, from Texas; and eDirect Software from Canada.
The companies were found by undercover employees purchasing software from those suspected. A pretty common method. While I doubt Symantec will be able to squeeze anywhere near that much cash out of these pirates, it is kind of hard to get around getting in some trouble for being caught selling fake goods.