November 7, 2005

DILLON ANNOUNCES:

ARREST OF JERICHO MAN FOR SELLING UNAUTHORIZED AND COUNTERFEIT MICROSOFT SOFTWARE

Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon announced today that the DA’s Criminal Frauds Bureau has arrested Mitchell Ackerman, 46, of 62 Ivy Drive, Jericho, for selling unauthorized and counterfeit Microsoft Corporation software.

According to Dillon, "Mitchell Ackerman, owner and operator of ‘Advanced Software Solutions’ is accused of selling unauthorized and counterfeit software, software which is otherwise made legally available to customers of the Microsoft Corporation. Neither Ackerman or Advanced Software Solutions possessed the necessary license to sell Microsoft products."

"Working with a Senior Investigator from Microsoft, an undercover investigation was conducted that resulted in four separate transactions," said Dillon. "The transactions involved software that was sent from Ackerman’s Jericho home. Three of the four purchases involved Microsoft product software that was not available for resale to someone like Ackerman. The fourth transaction involved counterfeit software. One example was on July 25, 2005, an undercover investigator purchased two copies of Windows Office Professional software for a total of $410.60 from ‘Advanced Software Solutions Website.’ The software was shipped to the undercover and the software has been identified as authentic."

"All software transactions involved in this undercover investigation were made over the Internet, from Ackerman’s online business, ‘Advanced Software Solutions,’ which was based out of his Jericho home," said Dillon. "On his website, Ackerman was falsely holding his own residence out as a commercial warehouse of computer software."

Ackerman has been charged with one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree and one count of Trademark Counterfeiting in the Second Degree, both Class E Felonies, punishable by up yo 4 years in prison. Ackerman will be arraigned later today in First District Court in Hempstead.

"I thank Microsoft and its employees for their assistance in this investigation and for choosing to contact my office to bring the investigation to its successful conclusion," said Dillon. "It is cases like this and the recent successful arrest of a Cablevision employee that demonstrate one of the ways law enforcement has and must continue to evolve in battling cybercrime, that is, a working partnership with the leading companies in the industry. Arrests such as these are evidence of the reputation my Office's Technology Crime Unit enjoys amongst the leading companies in the industry."

The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.