KC Is at the Center of Far-Flung Software Piracy Investigation
In what likely could become the largest-ever federal investigation into software piracy, authorities in Kansas City quietly have moved over the last year to seize more than $18.3 million in cash and real estate from those who allegedly profited.
Since January 2014, authorities have frozen the assets — including silver ingots, jewelry, luxury automobiles and collectible coins — of a network of online software vendors with hubs in Kansas City, Nevada, Colorado, Maryland and Washington state, court records show.
Those vendors sold counterfeit and unauthorized computer software and stolen activation key codes that they had obtained in Singapore, China and Europe, authorities alleged in civil court filings.
The criminal investigation, which still is underway, easily could become the largest software piracy case ever pursued by U.S. authorities.
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