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Novell Breaks Software Counterfeiting Ring Court Awards Over $12.7 Million PROVO, UT -- October 28, 1997 -- Novell, Inc. announced that it has been awarded over $12.7 million plus attorney's fees in a case involving a large software counterfeiting ring in Southern California. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Western Division awarded the damages against Softcom Computers, Software Distribution Center, Allnet Computers, Advanced Digital Corporation, Digital Soft Technologies, Inc., Grand Software Corporation and the individuals Mohammad Asadi, Dusko Molak, Tony Simic, Tony Alvarez, Mohammad Shahzad Salermi, Yahood Eshagh, Hossein Asadibagheri also known as Hossein Asadi, Mike Benz, Allen Bernstein, and Michael Bernstein. The companies involved were counterfeiting Novell's NetWare and distributing it throughout the United States and Europe. The counterfeiting activities included printing boxes, labels and altering Novell upgrade products by removing the word "upgrade" in some cases and by covering the word with fake markings in others. Novell first filed complaints in U.S. District Court in February of 1996. Many of the companies and individuals have come forward and settled out of court with Novell, but some chose not to respond to Novell's complaint. "We are obviously very pleased with the Court's judgement in this matter," stated David Bradford, senior v.p. and general counsel for Novell. "Once again, Novell's Anti-Piracy team has demonstrated that individuals and organizations who violate the rights of Novell and our customers will be identified, caught, and brought to justice. We will now focus resources on enforcing this judgement against the defendants." Novell has established an anti-piracy group and telephone 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. More than $11 billion each year is lost to software piracy, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Software Publisher's Association (SPA). Novell is an active member of both the SPA and BSA. Novell investigates more than 500 cases worldwide every year. 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 and NetWare are trademarks of Novell, Inc.
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