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As part of its Genuine Software Initiative, Microsoft has pursued a number of fronts to counter the counterfeiters. When it comes to lawsuits, the aim is to ensure a level playing field for its reseller channel who have to compete against cheap knock-offs.

The defendants are alleged to have either pirated software or engaged in hard-disk loading: copying an unlicensed image of the operating system onto the disks of other computers offered for sale.

Lawsuits were filed in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and South Carolina and included one against a reseller in Georgia who was recently indicted on federal criminal charges.

Microsoft gathered evidence for

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its suits via a secret shopper-style campaign whereby it bought products from suspected sellers and tested the goods to establish whether or not they were counterfeit. On most occasions, it claims to have notified any wayward sellers of the issue and how to rectify it before filing suit. It also acted on leads obtained through the company's anti-piracy hotline.

'Our message should be made very clear by today's lawsuits,' said Mary Jo Schrade, senior attorney at Microsoft. 'To our honest partners, and to consumers who expect and should receive genuine Microsoft software wherever they go to buy it, we are listening and we are investing a tremendous amount of resources to help you. We are committed to finding the unscrupulous dealers of pirated software and making piracy a business model that doesn't work.'

Microsoft's goal is to reduce the Windows piracy rate from an estimated 16.7 per cent to 11.7 per cent over the next few years. As well as legal action, Microsoft has teams scouring eBay and other auction sites for hooky copies.

With its Windows client software it is in the process of updating its installed base with controversial software that checks to see if those are counterfeit.