Software Piracy Sting Nets Windows Manuals

WESTMINSTER — A sting operation aimed at curbing software piracy netted thousands of counterfeit computer manuals Thursday, but no arrests, authorities said.

In a midday raid, about a dozen detectives entered the Newest Printing shop in the 14900 block of Dillow Street and found several employees in the middle of producing about 2,000 Windows 95 manuals, Police Sgt. Mike Mittelstaedt said.

Detectives said they believe the counterfeit manuals were destined to be bundled up with counterfeit CD-ROMs and sold for a fraction of the $100 retail price.

Police said stacks of pages ready to be bound into manuals were found in a back room where the printing press was set up. Investigators boxed up the evidence and questioned five employees.

The employees, who said they were copying the material for someone else and didn’t realize they were violating the law in reproducing the manual, were questioned and released pending further investigation, police said. The shop’s owner apparently was out of town, police said.

Hoa Nguyen, who was working at the family-owned printing shop, said in an interview after the raid that “another man ordered the job. And we did it. We didn’t know it was illegal.”

Nguyen said the customer wanted 2,000 manuals printed “in a hurry” for another client, and employees were trying to finish the job when police arrived.

“It could be that they’re victims in this too,” said Mittelstaedt, referring to the print shop employees. “They might not have known what was going on.”

Interviews with employees led police to two other addresses, where authorities found “more of the same” manuals, they said.

The raid resulted from a tip left on a Microsoft hotline, which was set up to field calls about counterfeiting activities, officials said.

Karen Porter, a spokeswoman for Microsoft, said counterfeit products cost the company vast amounts of money. Although software piracy occurs worldwide, the problem has been especially serious in Southern California, and Windows 95 is a favorite to counterfeit, Porter said.

“It’s a flagship product for us,” Porter said. “There’s a very large consumer base . . . so obviously, the demand is out there.”