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A vendor group that's targeting software piracy said Thursday that it is seeking a federal court injunction against four individuals who have allegedly ignored demands that they stop illegally selling software through online auction sites.

The 4 are part of a group of 13 software sellers who were sued by the Business Software Alliance last November, following a sting operation in which representatives of the Washington-based organization bought what it charged was pirated or counterfeit software via Internet-based auction sites.

Settlements have since been reached with two of the defendants, while negotiations continue with another seven, says Bob Kruger, vice president of enforcement at the BSA. The alliance includes Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, Apple Computer, and other technology vendors among its members.

The other four individuals targeted in the sting operation told BSA attorneys that they would stop any illegal software sales after being served with the original lawsuit, according to the alliance. But Kruger says they have continued to offer products over the Internet without authorization, based on continued undercover purchases by the BSA.

"It tells you something about the seriousness of this problem," Kruger says. "Obviously, these people are not easily deterred." A motion for an injunction that would force the alleged illegal sales to be halted was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, he adds.

The BSA, which began investigating alleged piracy on Internet auction sites last summer, claims that an estimated 90 percent of the software sold through online auctions is pirated. In addition to the lawsuits filed in the U.S., the group last fall took enforcement action against alleged pirates in the U.K. and Germany.

In December the BSA followed up the lawsuits by proposing a set of business guidelines for online auction sites, asking them to adopt clearly posted policies forbidding sellers from offering pirated or counterfeit software and to develop procedures for actively reviewing their software listings.

The guidelines also called on auction sites to post warnings and related information to alert users to what the BSA described as the potential dangers of buying illegal software, including the possibility of viruses and the lack of warranties and technical support.

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