A Chinese national studying at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) is facing criminal charges, expulsion and deportation from the country, after being caught selling computers loaded with illegal software.
Zhu Li was arrested in the parking lot at the DUT on 16 July after allegedly attempting to sell a computer loaded with pirated Microsoft Office and Windows Vista software to an investigating officer from the SAPS Commercial Crimes Unit.
After a search of his workplace, a second Qbook laptop computer and two computer disks were seized. He appeared in court on 17 July and was released on bail.
Charl Everton, anti-piracy manager at Microsoft SA, claims Li had been distributing pamphlets on campus offering Qbook computers for sale with software already loaded.
At a seminar in Durban last month, US consul-general Jill Dederian told 100 law enforcement officers that South African businesses lose an estimated R600 million a year due to the trade in counterfeit goods. Between April and December 2008, more than R9 million worth of counterfeit goods were seized in various raids.
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