Haidian District People's Court recently sentenced Shang Yajun to seven years and six months in prison for copyright infringement and sale of counterfeit goods.

The verdict came after the court heard evidence that district police seized more than 360,000 certificates of authenticity for software with a potential sales value of 500 million yuan ($79 million) in a raid on his warehouse last July.

Police also confiscated pirated software discs including 4,400 with Windows operating systems worth 10.4 million yuan.

"Shang Yajun was no casual counterfeiter - he ran a large-scale, sophisticated criminal enterprise," said David Finn, associate general counsel for worldwide anti-piracy at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft is encouraged by the successful resolution of the case and appreciates the help and support of the Chinese government."

(Source: China Daily)