OLYMPIA -- A bill aimed at cutting into information technology piracy in Asia and other foreign countries was signed into law today.

HB 1495,  backed heavily by Microsoft as it worked its way through the process, is designed to protect the state's software developers but has protection for stores that buy products without knowing they contain pirated IT. To read more about the bill, check this previous report.

To mark the occasion, some of the bill's sponsors and other supporters donned pirate eyepatches after Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the bill. The governor declined the offer of an eyepatch.