 Fast-forwarding a decade, several versions, and one big poker boom later, I happened to do a Google search on "PowerPOKER". I do this routinely to track down petty infringers, but I usually just check for my current product, "iPoker". A carefully worded 'cease-and-desist' email to abuse@whomever.com usually gets the offender's account deleted within hours, after which I can celebrate with a nice pirate-vanquishing ale. But this time, I was shocked to find a rather large web site called the-underdogs.org that had given away over 900 copies of my game "for free" since 2001. I was astounded. Not because they stole $9,000 worth of my old-but-still-copyrighted software along with thousands of other programs, but because they were doing it right here on U.S. soil. You see, pirates traditionally were careful to keep some ocean between themselves and their quarry. But that's apparently no longer necessary.