Microsoft sues US resellers for piracy

The suits were filed in federal courts against companies in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and South Carolina. They are intended to protect Microsoft's software revenue and its reseller partners, who stand to lose business when users by pirated software, the company said.

Microsoft gathered evidence against the defendants through several means. In some cases, complaints were received through Microsoft's anti-piracy hotline. In others, Microsoft purchased computers from the defendants as part of a "secret shopper" program to find dealers selling pirated software.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA), an industry group backed by several software companies, including Microsoft, reported in May that 21 percent of software sold in the U.S. is pirated. That rate is the lowest in the world, according to a BSA list of the 20 countries with the lowest piracy rates.

Further details of the BSA report on software piracy are available online.