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Novell Brings Largest Ever Internet Piracy Case Swiss Police Swoop On Internet Pirate In Dawn Raid October 23, 1996 -- Following months of undercover investigation by Novell's Anti-Piracy Group, on 15th October 1996, Swiss Police executed an early morning raid in Zurich on the home of a 27 year old computer technician calling himself 'The Pirate'. 'The Pirate' was offering $60,000 of unlicensed Novell products, along with commercial software from other Business Software Alliance (BSA) members, to anyone with a connection to the Internet. During the enquiry, Novell Anti-Piracy investigators also found files containing bomb making recipes and instructions for defrauding credit cards. During the raid officers from the Swiss Police Commercial Crime Unit seized an extensive collection of computer hardware and software. 'The Pirate' who was taken into custody, could face a maximum prison sentence of 3 years and/or a fine of up to SFR 100,000 (USD80,000) if convicted. In a related action on the same day, the Swiss police raided the M-E-M-O Bulletin Board System (BBS) run by a systems operator calling himself 'The Shadow'. The M-E-M-O BBS was believed to have close connections with 'The Pirate' and in addition to making available unlicensed Novell software via the telephone network, also offered a CD and DAT tape writing service. Martin Smith Novell's Licensing Manager for Europe Middle East and Africa says, "This is a landmark case for the software industry. For the first time today, individuals and organisations distributing unlicensed software on the Internet know that they can be caught and prosecuted. This case is the first of a series of Internet related actions which will be brought by Novell and the BSA in Europe in the coming months." Smith continued "Novell is committed to working with law enforcement groups throughout Europe to halt the supply of illegal products on the Internet. Electronic distribution of illegally duplicated software poses a threat both to the industry and consumers. In many cases the software available from such sites has been passed around the world, each transfer exposing it to potential corruption and viruses. For the end-user this inevitably leads to system down time or loss of data." Novell's Anti-Piracy Group can be contacted directly on dedicated hotlines, a list of which accompany this release. Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet, intranet and small-business markets. Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive in the network computing industry. Information about Novell's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com. Novell is a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
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