Microsoft is taking legal action against 55 people for selling counterfeit software via the web and online auction sites like eBay.

The company said many of those feeling the lawyers' wrath today had already received written warnings and cease and desist letters.

Microsoft is taking action against 15 people in the US, 10 in Germany, 10 in the Netherlands, five in France and five in the UK. There are also cases in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Korea, Mexico and Poland.

The cases are all against people selling dodgy software on eBay or other auction sites. Many of those named were previously warned by the auction sites and had items removed.

Microsoft claims that many of the pirates were caught as a result of its "Windows Genuine Advantage" programme. WGA effectively audits your computer and sends the results back to Redmond.

In other piracy news Microsoft claims that as many as one in three copies of Office in the UK could be fake. The figures come from the number of people trying Microsoft's Office Genuine Advantage - which checks your software is legit. 33 per cent of those checking their software with OGA discovered their software was hooky. The high figure could be interpreted as unnaturally high because people who suspect their software is dodgy are more likely to try the service. Of course, the opposite could be true - you might not want to know the awful truth. More from Ziff here.®