SIIA Honors DOJ Prosecutor Marc Miller with Annual Anti-Piracy Leadership Award

WASHINGTON, May. 21 /PRNewswire/ --

WASHINGTON, May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the & Information Industry Association (SIIA) bestowed upon Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney Marc Miller the organization's second annual Anti-Piracy Leadership Award at its annual conferences in San Francisco. The annual award recognizes and celebrates extraordinary efforts to combat piracy of software and content. SIIA and its members appreciate Miller's efforts in spearheading the prosecution of software piracy on eBay and other auction sites and recognize his efforts with today's award.

During the past year, Miller was responsible for spearheading numerous successful criminal copyright infringement prosecutions against some of the country's most notorious online auction software pirates, including the recent Mondello case, involving an Oregon man who used stolen bank account information to create more than 40 fictitious eBay and PayPal identities to sell pirated software via the auction site. The legal action that Miller fostered in the case resulted in Mondello, formerly a college student from the University of Oregon, pleading guilty before a district court in Oregon to charges of copyright infringement, aggravated identity theft, and mail fraud. Mondello is currently facing both extensive jail time and fines for his fraudulent sales, which amounted to a five to six figure sales volume.

Miller, whose work focuses on protecting Intellectual Property rights domestically and in Asia, is a federal prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice in the Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). His practice involves criminal enforcement of intellectual property statutes including copyright, trademark and theft of trade secrets.

Prior to working for the Department of Justice, Miller worked as an Assistant District Attorney for five years, and has tried more than 60 cases in both federal and state court. He also currently serves as the DOJ's lead prosecutor in combating online auction piracy.

According to SIIA President Ken Wasch, "We are very pleased that Marc Miller is the recipient of this year's award. It's an honor designed to recognize individuals within the government and private sectors whose work has had significant and positive impact on the fight against piracy domestically and internationally, and Marc Miller certainly fits -- if not breaks -- that mold."

Added Keith Kupferschmid, SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement for SIIA, "Our organization is pleased to show its recognition for the strong support of Marc Miller in the fight against software piracy in the past several years. In particular, we appreciate his efforts in vehemently prosecuting software piracy that occurs on eBay and other Internet auction sites, and we applaud his ongoing and diligent efforts to lead such important and essential work."

About SIIA

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 550 leading software and information companies. For further information, visit: www.siia.net .