The Federation carries out a sting on counterfeit ringleader's home after posing as a fake eBay customer

The Federation Against Software Theft (The Federation) has smashed another software piracy ring, after executing a sting operation on the counterfeiter's home in Cornwall.

Roofer Philip Rogers and his sister were found to be selling counterfeit software online following an investigation by the Federation.

John Lovelock, chief executive of the The Federation, said: “Primal asked The Federation to aid them protecting themselves from this theft of their intellectual property - property that they had spent time and effort designing, creating, publishing and distributing at considerable cost to themselves. We entered into correspondence with Rogers, informing him of our discoveries and letting him know that all our member wanted was for him to destroy the illegal stock of copied software he had manufactured, acknowledge that he had breached copyright, and enter into discussions regarding compensation.”

We’re glad to be able to help protect the smaller software vendors from criminals who have no conscience when it comes to stealing their hard work and putting them out of business. These creative firms are collectively the new ‘staple industries’ of the UK. They employ hundreds of thousands of people. If they get ripped off it’s ordinary people that they put out of work, and we are not going to stand for it,” said Lovelock.

Peter Allan, chief executive of Primal Pictures said “As the unique worldwide provider of interactive anatomy software for the medical profession, we have very strict copyright protection on our products. Our software is the product of years of dedicated hard work by anatomists and computer graphic experts and it is used to train medical and surgical students all over the world.

“To have someone steal it and profit from the hard work of such talented people is unacceptable and potentially financially damaging. We went to The Federation to help us settle this without going to court, and we’re happy that the rogue seller has ceased his illegal activities so that we can stay in business,” he added.

Rogers' admission of unlawful activity and signing of an undertaking not to do it again would be given weight in any subsequent legal proceedings which may arise, The Federation said.