Chinese police and the FBI joined forces to break up two pirate
software gangs in Shanghai and Shenzhen in an operation codenamed
"Summer Solstice", the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said on
Tuesday.
"Twenty-five suspects were arrested in the joint campaign and
360,000 pieces of pirated software were confiscated along with
their property worth over 60 million yuan (US$ 7.9 million) by the
Chinese police," said Gao Feng, deputy head of the ministry's
department for the investigation of economic crimes.
The FBI confiscated software worth over US$?2 million and
the gangs' other belongings worth US$ 700,000, according to
Gao.
Gao said in 2006 Chinese police suspected a man surnamed Ma of
selling pirated software in Shanghai and found Ma and other gang
members were colluding with people from the United States. The
Chinese police notified the FBI's Beijing office in June, 2006 and
asked for its help.
In October 2006, the FBI notified the Chinese police that its
Los Angeles bureau had found that at least two Chinese men from
Shenzhen, surnamed Wang and Che, were producing and selling pirated
software in the United States, Gao said. In March 2007, Chinese
police representatives visited the U.S. Department of Justice to
discuss bilateral cooperation against cross-border infringement of
intellectual property rights (IPR).
FBI representatives came to China in June to exchange
intelligence and evidences for the case and finalized the joint
operation plan.
"As IPR crimes are getting more and more global, professional
and covert, the Chinese government and law enforcement agencies
will step up cooperation with their foreign counterparts in
cracking down on such crimes," Gao said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25 2007)
