Collier Bennett Harper Charged With Importing Counterfeit Microsoft Software

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a Southern California man with illegally importing more than 1,000 counterfeit Microsoft Office CD-ROMs and selling them to unsuspecting customers over the Internet.

The U.S. attorney's office says 30-year-old Collier Bennett Harper of Lakewood was arrested Friday and charged with two counts each of trafficking counterfeit goods and smuggling.

Prosecutors say Harper contacted reputable dealers on eBay and hired them to sell his counterfeit software. He allegedly instructed the sellers how to list the software, describing the product as new and authentic.

Investigators estimate the seized software would have retailed for approximately $150,000.

If convicted, Harper faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in federal prison.

City News Service says Harper has been ordered to remain in custody pending a bail hearing Thursday.

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Comments

[dbrett480]

02:38 PM on 04/14/2012

They can't be any worse than non-counterfeit Microsoft software.

[JohnK26]

03:03 PM on 04/11/2012

What about going after the foreign exporter who sold the copies to Harper? After all, they are extraditing a UK citizen to the US for some filesharing nonsense.

[PenguinLinux]

11:06 AM on 04/11/2012

I pirate Linux.

[woody7]

11:56 AM on 04/11/2012

ha.........................................

[authorized-user]

10:16 AM on 04/11/2012

Prosecutors say Harper contacted reputable dealers on eBay and hired them to sell his counterfeit software.

Any E Bay exposure to this scam?

[Dosadi]

10:29 PM on 04/10/2012

Heck, Bill Gates sells it all the time.

[museando207]

07:51 PM on 04/10/2012

Let the bootlegs live on. Who buys original anything anymore. Maybe if the prices were more reasonable then people would buy the products but they charge you 100x more then the product is worth. The little guys and gals have to find ways to survive, too. It's not just the too big to fail crowd.

[jflorish]

08:01 PM on 04/10/2012

I buy original. Thats a stupid comment acting as if no one does.

[StinkyPete0279]

11:14 PM on 04/10/2012

People were buying the products. Counterfeit copies, unsuspecting. You're missing the point.

[bryanzth]

06:02 PM on 04/10/2012

Hm. Too bad for him. I wouldn't even use the stuff. ;o)

BZ.

[clearthinker16]

04:37 PM on 04/10/2012

A friend of mine bought a copy of Windows
7 that was for use in Russia only, he reported it to ebay and got his money back

[MichaelMcKLA]

04:35 PM on 04/10/2012

Oops.

[retrievals]

04:15 PM on 04/10/2012

13 trillion vanishes from the US economy wiping out millions of average Americans and nobody spends one day in jail, but Microsoft loses a couple thousand and somebody goes to jail for 60 years?

I'm glad Obama is highlighting the unfairness built into the US economy by congress today.

[bryanzth]

06:02 PM on 04/10/2012

You betcha! Good points!

BZ.

[jflorish]

08:02 PM on 04/10/2012

Obama should be in jail then for almost bankrupting the U.S.

[Digeeedad]

10:10 PM on 04/10/2012

Are you developmentally disabled???? Totally cool if you are (I worked with DD clients for 12 years) but really, try not to embarrass yourself with absolute nonsensical posts... it even embarrasses people who come read it. Good luck....

[ProudToBeVeryLiberal]

03:43 PM on 04/10/2012

In Russia there are only three original copies of MS software. ;)

[retrievals]

04:13 PM on 04/10/2012

Only one in China.

[DarkElf2001]

03:03 PM on 04/10/2012

"Investigators estimate the seized software would have retailed for approximately $150,000.
If convicted, Harper faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in federal prison."

Yet, CEO's, bankers, and political figures get a slap on the wrist for stealing MILLIONS of dollars??
I in no way support what he did, but come on....

[bryanzth]

06:04 PM on 04/10/2012

Yep, and don't forget the people arrested in the South for vagrancy or during the Depression for stealing a loaf of bread. They got nailed worse than the CEOS will ever be.

BZ.

[Johnnyrotten5]

12:41 AM on 04/11/2012

Darkelf,You are right on target with that.The attorney general turned a blind eye when the banks illegally foreclosed on homeowners,no prosecutions for torture,voting rights are being taken away,and nothing,but if a corporation loses money,they are all over it.Holder is THE most cowardly AG in the history of the republic(if you can still call it a republic)

[Chuck1987]

02:32 PM on 04/10/2012

If he wanted to make money he should have used megaupload... oh wait never mind!