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NOVELL SOFTWARE PIRACY INVESTIGATION LEADS TO COURT- ORDERED SHUT DOWN OF PITS BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM Operator Agrees to Forfeit All Equipment and a $200,000 Judgment PROVO, Utah -- November 6, 1995 -- Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) announced today that members of its anti-piracy team, along with the U.S. Marshal, raided the premises of the Pits Bulletin Board System (BBS) of Brooklyn, New York on October 24th and seized the operator#s computer equipment. Novell took the action in response to illegal distribution of its copyrighted software.The action followed a civil action suit filed in October 1995 by Novell in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Following the raid, the BBS operator, Pierre Barkett, agreed to settle the lawsuit by forfeiting his equipment and consenting to a $200,000 judgment. An investigation initiated by Novell's anti-piracy group in May 1995 revealed that the Pits BBS had for several years been offering users access to illegal copies of copyrighted software programs, including Novell's PerfectOffice# suite. Barkett told Novell investigators that he knew about Novell's reputation for aggressively pursing and shutting down pirate bulletin board systems, but did not know that PerfectOffice was a Novell product. The investigation continues an active campaign by Novell to find and prosecute "pirate" operators who persist in illegally distributing Novell's software via their bulletin board systems. "This is further proof that Novell does not take the violation of its copyrights and trademarks lightly," stated David Bradford, Novell's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "We will continue to take action to protect our copyrighted products from being illegally distributed via bulletin boards. You will see further evidence of Novell's aggressive campaign in the coming weeks." Pirate bulletin boards allow users to download commercial products, either by paying a fee to the bulletin board sysop or by trading for software which the bulletin board does not have. Such distribution violates the copyright and trademark rights of the manufacturers, as well as denying the manufacturer payment for its products. In addition, pirated software programs may be incomplete or contain computer viruses, which damages the reputation of the manufacturer. These programs may also damage the user of the pirated software's computer or data. According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), piracy cost the software industry over $15 billion in 1994. Novell maintains one of the industry's best-established anti-piracy programs and has established a hotline for reporting illegal use of Novell software or making related inquiries. Call 1-800-PIRATES (800-747-2837) or send e-mail to pirates@novell.com.
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