German goes to jail for Microsoft fraud

BERLIN: A German man was jailed for five and a half years for repackaging cheap versions of Microsoft Corp. software and selling them on at a higher price.

Ralph Blasek, a software dealer from Willich, near Bochum in western Germany, was found guilty of repackaging more than 32,000 copies of software products meant for schools and colleges, a Bochum court spokesman said.

He sold them on through his firm, Dino-Soft, defrauding the world's No. 1 software maker of some 4.5 million euros ($5.53 million), the spokesman said.

Prosecutors had demanded a prison term of six years.

Blasek, a father of three, lived a luxurious lifestyle, owning properties around the world as well as Rolls Royce and Bugatti cars, the spokesman said.

Microsoft, which helped the German authorities during the investigation and 10-week trial, said in a statement Blasek was the suspected leader of Europe's largest known software counterfeiting network.

"We applaud the decision as software counterfeiting is a serious crime. It undercuts honest competitors as well as robbing the local economy of thousands of jobs and vital revenue each year," said Beatrice Delmas, director of Microsoft legal and corporate affairs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"We see this as a signal that governments globally are getting tougher on software crime," she added.