US technology giant Microsoft is suing eight people suspected of hawking counterfeit computer software on the popular online auction website eBay, the company said on Wednesday.

All but one of the accused software bootleggers was targeted due to a Microsoft program called Windows Genuine Advantage, which validates users’ software as a condition of providing online updates, according to the company.

Complaints about some of the purportedly bogus software sellers were also reportedly logged on an anti-piracy telephone hotline operated by the Redmond, Washington, company.

The civil suits were filed in federal district courts in the eight US states where the defendants live.

Microsoft said it “routinely monitors” online auction sites for pirated software and asks operators to pull bootleg offers.

Microsoft asked for nearly 50 000 online auctions of counterfeit software to be yanked from the Internet in 2005, according to the company.

“We strongly believe in the convenience and global reach of the virtual marketplace,” said Microsoft attorney Matt Lundy.

“Unfortunately, a number of online sellers are undermining trust in the system by using the internet to hawk illegal products to unsuspecting consumers.”

Microsoft hoped the lawsuits would send online auction customers the message that “software offers are not always what they appear to be”, Lundy said.

An estimated 21 percent of the computer software used in the United States is pirated, according to the Business Software Alliance.

Posted: 03|16|06 at 9:43 am. Filed under: US News.