Software pirates go on trial

SHANGHAI: Nine members of a gang alleged to have been involved in a multi-million-dollar counterfeit software scam went on trial here yesterday.

The gang, led by Shanghai native Ma Jingyi, is accused of selling 677,000 pieces of pirated computer software to buyers in the United States at a price of $10.48 million, the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate Prosecutors' Office said.

The men were arrested in July of last year following a joint investigation codenamed "Summer Solstice" that was launched in 2005 by authorities from China and the US.