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- Taken Directly From The Chicago Tribune - Sunday June 14, 1992 - Section 7
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- PC BULLETIN BOARD HIT BY FBI RAID
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- By Josh Hyatt
- Boston Globe
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- BOSTON-In one of the first reported crackdowns of its kind, six
- FBI agents raided a computer bulletin board in a Millbury, Mass., home
- last week. Authorities said the bulletin board's operator had been
- illegally distributing copywrited software.
- Executing a criminal search warrant, the agents seized several
- computers, six modems and a program called PC Board, which was used to
- run the bulletin board. Authorities also seized documents that listed
- users of the service.
- No arrests were made, according to the Software Publishers
- Association, a trade group that brought the case to the FBI's attention.
- The association estimates that, as of March, the bulletin board had
- distributed $675,000 worth of copywrited software; software pirates, it
- says, anually steal as much as $12 billion this way.
- The FBI will not comment on the case except to confirm that a
- raid had taken place and that the investigation is continuing. The
- alleged operator of the bulletin board, Richard Kenadek, could not be
- reached for comment.
- Around the same time as the raid, the software association filed
- a civil lawsuit against Kenadek, charging him with violating copywrite
- laws. Ilene Rosenthal, the group's director of litigation, said that
- "the man had incriminated himself" through various computerized
- messages.
- "There's plenty of evidence to show that he was very aware of
- everything on his bulletin board," she said.
- Bulletin boards let personal computer users access a host
- computer via modems. Typically, participants exchange information
- regarding everything from computer programs to tropical fish. They may
- also, for example, obtain upgrades of computer programs.
- The association said its own four-month investigation revealed
- that this bulletin board, called Davy Jones Locker, contained more than
- 200 copywrighted programs.
- Rosenthal said users also were encouraged to contribute
- copywrighted software programs for others to download, or copy.
- According to Rosenthal, subscribers paid a fee, $49 for three
- months or $99 for one year. She said Davy Jones Locker had nearly 400
- paying subscribers in 36 states and 11 foreign countries.
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