U.S. District Court Awards Symantec $3M Judgment Against Md. Tech Firm

Symantec Corp., an anti-virus software maker, said Monday that the United States District Court for Central District of California Western Division has awarded the company a $3 million judgment against Linthicum-based Maryland Internet Marketing Inc. for selling counterfeit Symantec software.

The judgment calls for Maryland Internet Marketing’s chief executive, George A. Moore Jr., to personally pay $300,000 in damages to the Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec.

“In our estimation, Maryland Internet Marketing was the largest source of spammed e-mails circulating throughout the Internet in the United States selling counterfeit Symantec software,” said William Plante, Symantec’s director of corporate security and brand protection task force.

Plante characterized Moore as a one-man operation that cost Symantec millions in lost sales and generated many customer complaints in 2003.

“Moore marketed the counterfeit Symantec software using spam, which angered some of our customers,” Plante said.

Before filing a lawsuit in April against Maryland Internet Marketing, Symantec sent Moore a letter demanding that he stop selling the counterfeit software.

“Moore told us he wouldn’t stop and that the software he was selling wasn’t counterfeit,” Plante said.

Reached at his home by a reporter, Moore declined comment about the judgment, citing the advice of his attorney.

“I just want to put this behind me and get on with my life,” Moore said.

Moore’s attorney did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Since the court awarded the judgment, the spamming and the sale of counterfeit Symantec software have fallen significantly, according to Plante. The counterfeit products being pitched via e-mail by Maryland Internet Marketing were being offered at “grossly reduced prices,” according to the lawsuit. They included Norton SystemWorks, Norton Antivirus, Norton Ghost and pcAnywhere.

Meanwhile, in addition to the $3 million judgment, the court permanently barred Maryland Internet Marketing and Moore from producing or selling unauthorized products protected by Symantec’s registered trademarks and name. It also prohibited Moore from using spam as a means to sell any Symantec products.

Moreover, Moore and Maryland Internet Marketing are required to help Symantec investigate other suppliers of counterfeit Symantec software, according to Symantec officials.

Moore and Maryland Internet Marketing have been named as defendants in an April 15 lawsuit filed by Dulles, Va.-based America Online Inc., an online service provider. In the lawsuit, AOL alleges that Moore and four other marketing companies sent billions of unwanted spam e-mails to its subscribers using a variety of evasive methods. AOL alleges that this spamming generated more than 8 million subscriber complaints.