A court in Shenzhen, southern China, has convicted 11 people in a copyright piracy case that Microsoft claims involved the biggest counterfeiting organisation it has ever seen.
According to papers released by the Futian Court in Shenzhen in late December, the men were given sentences of between 18 months and six-and-a-half years.
They were accused of making counterfeit versions of Microsoft software, including Windows XP and Office 2007. The software was sold online and distributed worldwide.
The case followed cooperation between the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.
The FBI started working on the case, codenamed Summer Solstice, in 2005. The arrests were made in July 2007.
"Microsoft greatly appreciates the work of China's PSB and the FBI in taking strong enforcement action against this global software counterfeiting syndicate," said David Flynn, associate general counsel for worldwide anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting work at Microsoft.
Microsoft claimed the sales, which reached 36 countries, were worth more than $2 billion.
However, the court found that the 11 accused were responsible for counterfeits worth Rmb305.65 million ($45 million). They made gains of Rmb1.9 million.
The gang had copied distributed nearly 55,000 discs of counterfeit software.
Wang Wenhua was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and given a Rmb1.5 million fine, while Zhang Da'an was sentenced to five years and fined Rmb400,000 and Che Tingfeng given a three-and-a-half year prison sentence and fine of Rmb800,000.
The other eight members of the gang received lesser sentences.
Two of the convicted have appealed.
A related case involving nine people accused of counterfeiting Microsoft and Symantec software is being heard in Shanghai.
