NEC Corp. acknowledged on Friday it has been the victim of a large-scale piracy ring that sold both counterfeit NEC goods as well as NEC-branded products that have never even been manufactured by NEC such as MP3 players. As infoworld reports, the company is unsure whether the goods were produced by factories working under contract for NEC in China and Taiwan or if they come from an outside counterfeit goods syndicate, said Yasuhito Jochi, a Spokesman for NEC in Tokyo.

Fake keyboards, writeable CDs and DVDs, and MP3 players have been sold illegally under the NEC brand, even though NEC doesn't necessarily manufacture all those products, he said. For instance, the company doesn't make MP3 players.

NEC was unable to estimate the value of the pirated goods yet as it is still investigating . The company first became aware of the problem in the second half of 2004, when it began receiving inquiries from customers about products they had purchased but that NEC did not produce.

A report in Friday's International Herald Tribune newspaper indicated that as many as 50 factories in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong may be involved.