CUPERTINO, CA - Symantec Corporation announced that it was awarded a combined total of $18.6 million in damages in cases brought against two distributors selling counterfeit Symantec software throughout North America, according to Symantec.
The first judgment of $9.7 million was handed down by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose in favor of Symantec against V-Micro Inc., a New Jersey-based organization.
The second judgment of $8.9 million was handed down by the United States District Court for the Central District of California Western Division in Los Angeles in favor of Symantec against Connecticut-based Higher Model Computer LLC.
“The size of these judgments reflects the scope of these two particular operations and the number of unsuspecting users that were put at risk for acquiring fraudulent software from these distributors,” said Joy Cartun, senior director, Symantec Legal Department.
“In many cases, people turn over their financial information to disreputable businesses in exchange for products that don’t work and can make their computers more vulnerable to virus attacks and other online threats,” she added.
“Counterfeit software also is more likely to contain spyware, which after installation can steal personal and confidential information from someone’s computer without their knowledge. While the judgments are significant, the more important point is that these businesses no longer pose a counterfeit software threat to Symantec’s customers,” Cartun stated.
Symantec filed each case in federal court and included claims alleging copyright and trademark infringement and fraud against both operations for selling counterfeit Symantec products such as Norton SystemWorks, Norton AntiVirus, Norton Ghost, and pcAnywhere.
Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world.
