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Network Support Encyclopedia 13
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Network Support Encyclopedia (Novell Inc.)(1991).ISO
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1992-04-22
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NOVELL AIDS SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION IN ONE OF FIRST U.S. CRIMINAL CASES
INVOLVING SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Part of Increasing Civil and Criminal Actions to Halt Software Piracy
PROVO, Utah -- April 20, 1992 -- Novell today announced it played a key
role in one of the first successful criminal prosecutions involving
software copyright infringement and has taken recent legal action in six
civil cases to stop software piracy.
Novell cooperated with federal authorities in an investigation and
indictment leading to conviction on eight counts against Zeyad Awwad for
selling illegally copied computer software and infringing on Novell's
copyright for the NetWare operating system . The conviction also involved
the illegal copying and resale of Dataflex software from Data Access
Corporation.
A Federal Grand Jury in Birmingham, Alabama, indicted Awwad based on an
investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Awwad has
pleaded guilty to the eight counts of software copyright violation and was
sentenced by the United States District Court, Northern District of
Alabama on April 3, 1992. The sentencing included restitution to the
victim end-users, a suspended jail sentence, one year probation,
forfeiture of software and hardware valued at $50,000, and a fine of
$40,000.
The six civil lawsuits filed by Novell have been brought against firms
that Novell alleges made unauthorized copies of NetWare network operating
system software and then resold the duplications. Novell filed five of
these lawsuits without notice to the defendants and immediately received
either temporary or preliminary injunctions in these cases. All actions
were filed on Novell's behalf by Stephen Tropp and Cara Burns of Arter &
Hadden, Los Angeles, Novell's outside counsel nationwide on piracy
matters.
"Our anti-piracy program protects customers and authorized resellers from
infiltration of illicit, oftentimes corrupted products into the
marketplace," said David Bradford, Novell senior vice president and
general counsel. "Novell's campaign to halt software piracy includes
cooperating with federal, state and local authorities in their
investigations of software copyright infringement as well as civil
lawsuits to protect our intellectual property rights."
Six Civil Lawsuits
Novell received permanent injunctions restraining future piracy and
undisclosed amounts of cash for damages in two of the lawsuits filed by
the company. Both suits were filed last year in United States District
Court in the Eastern District of Michigan. One was against Municipality
Services Organization, Organized Labor Management Systems and James Cork.
The other suit was against EDI Associated Services and Donald Gillentine.
In three other lawsuits filed earlier this year, Novell sought and
obtained restraining orders prohibiting the defendants from engaging in
the unauthorized resale of Novell products. Novell also filed a complaint
for damages and a permanent injunction in these cases. The three suits
were filed against infringers in Hawaii, Alabama and Texas. In addition,
Novell filed a fourth complaint for damages and a permanent injunction
against an unauthorized reseller in Arizona.
Novell conducts it own anti-piracy program through its legal and
investigations team and has an anti-piracy hotline, 800-PIRATES. In
addition, Novell is a member of the Software Publishers Association's
Copyright Protection Fund, the Business Software Alliance and the Canadian
Alliance Against Software Theft. Novell works closely with these
organizations to combat intellectual property theft worldwide.
Novell typically licenses its NetWare operating system products on a per
server basis with one licensing fee paid for each NetWare operating
system.
Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL) is an operating system software company, the
developer of network services, specialized and general purpose operating
system software products including NetWare and DR DOS. Novell's NetWare
network computing products manage and control the sharing of services,
data and applications among computer workgroups, departmental networks and
business-wide information systems.