Posted 10/22/09 at 08:36:28 PM by Ryan Whitwam

DRAM maker A-Data has decided to begin using a new anti-counterfeiting system they are calling “DNA Authentication”.  According to the company, the fraudulent selling of fake RAM is a “serious and growing problem" in the tech world.

It seems A-Data has had a lot of troubles with the selling of fake DRAM chips with A-Data logos. According to the company, “…we adopted the DNA authentication technology to protect our intellectual property and our consumers’ interests."

So what does this mean? When you cut through the marketing speak, it’s basically just a new type of ID label on RAM sticks. To verify the authenticity of the chips, consumers can use a black light to reveal the unique code on the sticker. Like many of these ID systems, the label is designed to tear itself to shreds if removed. Will it do much to stop fraud, or will the fraudsters just fake these labels too?

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Posted 12/04/08 at 05:02:51 PM by Andy Salisbury

It looks like Microsoft’s lawyer fueled banhammer has been in full swing lately (surprise, surprise), having just filed 63 lawsuits against online retailers in 12 countries that have been supposedly selling counterfeit Microsoft software.

The lawsuits have reportedly been filed against sellers of counterfeit copies of Windows XP for the most part. “Pirates want to counterfeit all of our products but there always is a trend as a product nears the end of its life cycle,” said Matt Lundy, senior attorney with Microsoft’s anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting team. “They're not going to cease selling XP because Microsoft has.”

The pirates were clearly none-too-bright either. Given that they were selling the software on sites such as Amazon, eBay and even Microsoft’s MSN shopping network, they were asking to get caught.

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Posted 09/17/08 at 10:13:03 AM by Paul Lilly

As if times weren't tough enough for memory chip manufacturers, who recently bemoaned that the market is the worst it has been in 15 years, the challenges just keep coming. Not only do chip makers have to contend with an oversupply of memory, but according to a DigiTimes report, fake NAND flash memory is making the rounds in China, which can only further hurt the industry.

Samsung may end up bearing the brunt of the scheme, as most of the counterfeit memory is being made available as Samsung-branded chips and sold at bargain basement pricing. Even worse, though the counterfeiters package the memory as finished products, many are being found without so much as a die inside.

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