German software dealer Ralf Blasek was convicted of fraud and sentenced to five and a half years in jail Thursday for selling cheaper versions of Microsoft products at inflated prices
Published:
25 July 2004 y., Sunday
German software dealer Ralf Blasek was convicted of fraud and sentenced to five and a half years in jail Thursday for selling cheaper versions of Microsoft products at inflated prices.
The Bochum state court said the fraud cost the US software giant €4.5 million ($5.5 million) in lost revenues. According to the Associated Press, the 38-year-old Blasek, a software dealer in the west German town of Willich, mislabeled educationally priced versions of software purchased in Belgium and sold them at a higher price to dealers in Bochum. Microsoft welcomed the sentence, which it said was the longest jail sentence ever in Germany for software-related fraud. Judge Wolfgang Mittrup said that Blasek had a "deeply criminal personality" and used the money from the piracy to live a luxurious life, buying around 40 pieces of property and several expensive cars.
Šaltinis:
dw-world.de
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
In Brussels, Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas participated in the meeting of Nordic and Baltic (NB6) Prime Ministers which focused on the pressing topics on the agenda of the European Council: global finance crisis, energy, climate change, EU-Russia relations, and financial situation in Iceland.
more »
Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas attended the working dinner with President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Polish Prime Ministers – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Andrus Ansip, Matti Vanhanen, Ivars Godmanis, Donald Tusk – and Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt.
more »
The European Commission has put forward a revision of EU rules on deposit guarantee schemes that puts into action the commitments made by EU Finance Ministers on 7 October.
more »
The United States began releasing long-awaited details of its $700 billion rescue plan.
more »
Australia's Prime Minister announces plans for the government to guarantee bank deposits for the next three years.
more »
Ethical bank, Triodos, says it is offering customers an alternative way to invest their funds.
more »
Energy security was the dominant theme during the meeting between Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas and Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis.
more »
The draft law would require utilities to separate – or unbundle – the distribution of electricity and gas from production.
more »
A holistic approach to eradicating poverty, which seeks to ensure adequate incomes, quality jobs and better access to social services, is advocated by the EP in an own-initiative report.
more »
Dubai showcases multi-billion dollar development projects at the annual Cityscape exhibition.
more »