Software buyers have only themselves to blame if they buy pirated programs which ruin their PCs, the chairman of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has said.

In an interview with vnunet.com Mark Floisand warned that buyers of software from online auctions should be careful to avoid offers that seem too good to be true.

"We have no issues with online auctioneers, but 'buyer beware' is always the rule when buying from such sites," he said.

"If someone buys software at about a tenth of its purchase price they must know they are getting a pirated copy and I've no sympathy if it trashes their system.

"It's the people thinking they're getting legitimate second-hand software at a slight discount who are getting a rough deal, and we'll work with trading standards officers to track down the vendors."

The BSA recently helped prosecute a vendor of pirated software. Earlier this month Bilal Khan, a 23 year-old trainee accountant, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and fined £15,000 for selling counterfeit software.

Khan had been selling pirated copies of Macromedia, Adobe and Microsoft products through online auction sites.

When Khan's home was raided in 2000, 236 discs containing counterfeit software were found, as well as blank CDs, a laptop and a CD burner.