Taiwanese Microsoft piracy group was responsible for 90% of pirated copies

Microsoft claims that a small group led by a recently jailed Taiwanese man was the source of almost all high quality pirated copies of its software up until his arrest in 2004.

The claim suggests that Microsoft practically wiped out commercial piracy of its products with the arrest of Huang Jer-sheng, the owner of Taiwan-based software distributor Maximus Technology.

Microsoft announced today that Huang and his associates were responsible for the "production and distribution of more than 90 percent of the high-quality counterfeit Microsoft software products either seized by law enforcement or test-purchased around the world".

Huang was recently sentenced to four years in jail by a Taiwanese court. Three co-defendants received between 18 months and three years in jail. Six individuals were originally arrested in the case.

Microsoft named two CD replication plants in Taiwan (Chungtek Hightech Enterprise and Cinway Technology) as the main producers of CDs for the piracy ring. Counterfeiters in southern China were also involved.