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An admitted counterfeiter has agreed to pay Microsoft and Symantec $1.1 million in restitution, a victory in the software industry's fight against software piracy.

The award is part of a plea agreement in a criminal software piracy case in Houston, Symantec said Tuesday. The case came to court after a yearlong investigation by the Houston police and the FBI into the activities of Li Chen, who was found to have 5,100 copies of counterfeit Symantec software at his Houston business, Symantec said.

Chen pled guilty to one count of trademark infringement and agreed to pay Symantec $1,005,000 in restitution, the Cupertino, Calif., software maker said. Microsoft is to get $95,000, according to a copy of the agreement, which was signed on Aug. 29.

Law enforcement officials searched Chen's business, Microsource International, on Nov. 17, 2004. In addition to the pirated software, they found documents showing that Chen had sold counterfeit Symantec products with a retail value of more than $9.9 million, Symantec said.
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Read More / Source: News.com