Rich LaMagna, manager of worldwide investigations for Microsoft, said:
"Perhaps most disturbing is the high quality of the counterfeit products seized in this case. It is clear that this is a highly organised and well-funded counterfeiting operation. The quality of the illegal software was at a level where consumers would have a difficult time distinguishing it from genuine Microsoft software. This is serious, because illegal software holds no safeguards for consumers and is created to rob the economy of legitimate gains."
Among the products seized were 31,000 counterfeit copies of Windows Me and Windows 2000 Professional operating systems, 93,000 counterfeit certificate of authenticity (COA) labels for Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows 98 and Office 2000 Professional and 25,000 counterfeit End User License Agreements (EULAs) for various software products.
According to a 2000 software piracy study by International Planning & Research, software piracy resulted in the loss of 118,026 jobs in the US, nearly $1.6 billion in tax revenues and $5.6 billion in wages.