Microsoft's label suits

Here's a copy of the lawsuit (click to download .pdf) filed by Microsoft yesterday against a Vancouver, Wash., company alleged to have traded in counterfeit certificates of authenticity, or COA labels, as they're known. It's one of eight suits filed by Microsoft around the country, attempting to crack down on the practice. (See this morning's story for more details.) I've left a message seeking comment from the owner of the Vancouver company, Software Provisions LLC, but haven't yet heard back. I'll update this post if I do.

Above is an example of an authentic label, although Microsoft senior attorney Bonnie MacNaughton explained yesterday that it's difficult to tell the difference between real labels and fake ones just by looking at them. As noted in our story this morning, Microsoft says it is working on a solution that would make it more difficult to produce counterfeit labels or to remove real ones from packaging or hardware for individual resale. See this Microsoft site for more information on COA labels.