Computer pirate sees error of his ways

                     January 30, 1997                        
                     Web posted at: 5:40 a.m. EST

                     From Correspondent Rusty Dornin

                     SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- Illegally copying computer
                     software costs the software industry billions of
                     dollars in lost revenues.

                     Just this week, the FBI seized computers in a
                     sting operation in eight cities. One company's
                     software pirate, once caught, decided to confess
                     in a rather unique way.

                     The bait for Michael Scheisz, president of a computer 
                     training firm, was a nifty computer program 
                     that for $3,000 allows you to design everything 
                     from a shopping mall to an office.

                     Scheisz decided it would be a lot cheaper just to
                     buy one copy of the software and then copy it for
                     his students. The only problem is that's illegal
                     and he got caught.

                     Video confession

                     Instead of paying a huge penalty to Autodesk, the
                     software's manufacturer, Scheisz agreed to make a
                     video and profess the evils of computer piracy.

                     "It's an issue that shocked me," he said. "It put
                     me in the situation of looking at it as I could
                     have lost my business and everything."

                     Pirating software instead of buying it costs the
                     computer industry an estimated $3 billion a year
                     in lost sales.


                     And when the FBI seized computers allegedly used
                     in piracy rings this week, the agents also shut
                     down seven bulletin boards that were active in
                     promoting distribution of illegal software.

                     Sending a message

                     The piracy pages on the Internet come       
                     complete with instructions on stealing
                     software. And insiders donŐt think a little
                     saber-rattling by the FBI will put a damper on the
                     practice.

                     "I doubt very much whether this will discourage
                     people who are just informally distributing copies
                     of software amongst friends and colleagues. This
                     is a bust aimed at computer hacks," said Todd
                     Lappin, editor of Wired magazine.

                     FBI spokesmen acknowledge that prosecuting these
                     cases may be tough, but they hope the message will
                     encourage folks to turn in would-be hackers.

                     For Scheisz, copying the disks seemed like no big
                     deal. Then he realized something.

                     "It's a matter of taking something that doesn't
                     belong to you," Scheisz said. "You buy it once,
                     you don't buy it 10 times."


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