The BSA, whose members include Microsoft, Adobe, Network Associates, Symantec and Macromedia, claims that three cases forwarded to its European Internet Investigation team by local law enforcement authorities involve teenagers who have developed "illegal business practices."
In the UK, the BSA says, a 16-year old still at school has been prosecuted for selling pirated software on auction web sites.
According to the BSA, a minor has also been prosecuted in Switzerland for advertising and selling pirated software on a classifieds web site, whilst another Swiss juvenile has been convicted of copyright and trade mark infringement and unfair competition for selling pirated software CDs. The BSA said that the local court imposed fines and "future internet restrictions."
The group, which claims that software piracy "might be the first step towards other related criminal activities" said that the number of juveniles targeted by law enforcement for software piracy is increasing, and is urging parents to pay more attention to their children's on-line activities.
At the same time, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said it filed copyright infringement lawsuits against nine on-line vendors, who were allegedly selling hundreds of pirated DVDs over internet auction sites. The suits were filed in California, New Jersey, Alabama, Virginia, Florida, Nevada, Kansas and Connecticut.
According to the MPAA, sales of pirated films have almost doubled in 2002 and 95% of on-line sales of such material occurs on eBay. There is no suggestion that eBay is involved in any fraudulent activity and the company is not named in any of the suits.