SPA Open New Phase in War on Software Pirates 
Files Suite Against Three New York Rental Establishments

May 28, 1993 (Washington, DC)--The Software Publishers Association (SPA)
announced today the filing of three new copyright infringement lawsuits in
federal court in New York. The defendants named in the suits are
Megatronics, Global Software & Accessories, Inc., and Software Review,
Inc., all of which are alleged to be engaged in the illegal rental of
computer software at various locations on Long Island.

The SPA suits were brought on behalf of a group of the country's leading
publishers of business software, whose products include PC Tools, ProComm,
Harvard Graphics and Norton Utilities. All three suits were filed in the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and
were assigned the following docket numbers: 93 CV - 2063 (Megatronics,
Inc.), 93 CV - 2367 (Global Software & Accessories, Inc.), and 93 CV -
2368 (Software Review, Inc.).

The rental of computer software for commercial gain constitutes a violation
of the federal copyright laws under the Computer Software Rental
Amendments Act of 1990, which took effect on December 1, 1990. The
plaintiffs in all three lawsuits are seeking permanent injuctive relief
and money damages.

llene Rosenthal, General Counsel of the SPA, commented, "It has been
illegal to rent software in this country since December of 1990. In at
least two of the cases we filed, it appears that the defendants have
attempted to circumvent the law by disguising the transactions in a
transparent attempt to obscure their true nature. Global Software &
Accessories, Inc., on the other hand, makes no attempt to disguise its
illegal actions. It publishes a catalog listing hundreds of software
titles 'for rent,' and sells memberships for $29.95 in a software 'rental
club' that boasts 15,000 members."

Since 1988, the Software Publishers Association has initiated hundreds of
lawsuits and audits on behalf of its members and obtained numerous search
and seizure orders against businesses, computer dealers, bulletin board
services, and educational institutions that have violated its members'
copyrights. The SPA's anti-piracy hotline, 1-800-388-7478, accepts calls
reporting software violations. The suits against Megatronics, Global
Software and Software Review are an integral part of the Software
Publishers Association's ongoing effort to combat software piracy.

The Software Publishers Association also distributes free of charge
self-audit materials designed to help businesses, government entities, and
educational institutions manage their internal software practices. To
obtain a copy of the SPA Self-Audit Kit and SPAudit, a software inventory
management program, companies should write to:

SPAudit 
Software Publishers Association 
1730 M Street, NW, Suite 700 
Washington, DC 20036

The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of
the personal computer software industry. Its 1,000 members represent the
leading publishers in the business, consumer, and education software
markets. The SPA has offices in Washington, DC, and Paris, France.

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