Rosetta Stone has reached settlements with 77 people for copyright and trademark infringements of its language-learning products.
The Arlington-based company said the settlements were with people who had copied, downloaded, shared and sold counterfeit Rosetta Stone software.
The settlements were reached in 73 cities in 27 states. They included cases in Arlington, Ashburn, Manassas, Manassas Park, Norfolk, Richmond, Sterling, Virginia Beach and Woodbridge.
“Consumers need to be aware of the dangers of software piracy, including the risks of identity theft, malware, spyware and defective software,” Michael Wu, general counsel and corporate secretary for Rosetta Stone, said in a statement.
The company is advising consumers to contact Rosetta Stone if they question the authenticity of a product being offered by emailing . “Remember, if a price looks too good to be true, it probably is,” Wu said.
Rosetta Stone is urging Congress to pass legislation to fight websites that sell counterfeit products.
“We believe that any rogue website legislation must empower the U.S. Department of Justice to prevent online search engines from selling paid advertisements to rogue websites,” Wu said. “There is no good reason why search engines should continue to transact with criminals and facilitate the rampant theft of American intellectual property.”
Rosetta Stone has filed a lawsuit against Google for trademark infringement for selling keywords that advertised counterfeit products. The company has appealed a lower court’s ruling in favor of Google.
Theft is theft whether it is piracy or shoplifting.
--Richard Fullerton of Virginia
May. 15, 2011 at 09:38 PM
What happen to the Petty Larceny case hearing on February 1st, involving Rosetta Stone employee’s mother? How did they settle that case with Safeway? The article was published on THE McLEAN EAR of September last year.
--Dahlia Clark of Virginia
May. 17, 2011 at 12:24 PM
I have a question for Rosetta Stone’s legal team. What is the difference between selling counterfeit products and stealing products? Do you catergorize them both as theft? Is larceny lesser crime than piracy? Reference, THE McLEAN EAR Mon, Oct 4 2010/ Published in Community Safety. If an article looks too good to be true, it probably is.
--Richard Fullerton of Virginia
May. 21, 2011 at 11:22 AM