US anti-piracy group the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) filed lawsuits yesterday against three suspected pirates who use eBay to sell copies of anti-virus software. The cases were filed at the District Court, Central District of California.

The three accused were selling copies of Symantec and McAfee products between October and November 2005.

The SIIA is specifically monitoring online auctions to find pirates. It says current measures of taking auctions down through eBay's Verified Rights Owner scheme is not enough. The SIIA has hired Effective Piracy Enforcement Inc to help spot and investigate pirates.

The SIIA hopes its "Auction Litigation Program" will identify more pirates, resulting in more legal cases and the reduction of online auction piracy.

Read the whole press release here. ®