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| News Brief |
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| Novell Awarded Judgment in Counterfeit Software Case | ||||
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PROVO, Utah — July 15, 2003 — Novell today announced that it has been awarded a judgment against Guy Franklin of New Rochelle, New York, for more than $210,000. Novell brought the suit against Franklin for copyright and trademark infringement. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleged that Franklin distributed counterfeit versions of Novell's NetWare software and also distributed counterfeit Novell labels. Novell discovered the counterfeit software when anti-piracy investigators saw a suspicious advertisement in an online publication. Investigators purchased the suspect product, which was soon after identified as a counterfeit version of Novell's NetWare software. Novell recovered more of the counterfeit software when Deputy United States Marshals conducted a civil search and seizure at the home office of several of Franklin's co-defendants, who claimed they did not know that the software was counterfeit. The software's serial numbers traced back to a direct order made by an educational organization in New York. Franklin, an employee of the organization at the time, later admitted that he took the genuine NetWare software from his employer without its knowledge and then made copies of the software as well as counterfeit Novell labels in an attempt to make it look like genuine Novell software. "Having a system in place that allowed Novell to track the serial number back to a specific customer made it much easier to identify the source of the counterfeit product," said Nathan Gage from Novell's anti-piracy team. "Hopefully, this ruling will help to discourage others from participating in this type of fraudulent activity." Novell's Anti-Piracy Group investigates complaints of software piracy in the marketplace and on the Internet, including the illegal use and distribution of Novell's copyrighted software and other materials, as well as the unauthorized use of Novell's trademarks. The Anti-Piracy Group is committed to ensuring that Novell customers receive legitimate, licensed software and that Novell partners receive the appropriate revenues for the distribution of Novell software. The Anti-Piracy Group has also established a reward program, offering a minimum of $250 or 10% of Novell's recoveries for submitting a genuine piracy lead to Novell. For more information on the reward program or to report instances of software piracy, please visit the anti-piracy web site at www.novell.com/piracy or email pirates@novell.com. The Anti-Piracy Group also maintains a toll-free hotline at 1-800 PIRATES (800-747-2837). Press Contacts: Novell Anti-Piracy Contact: |
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