Retail Chain Settles Software Suit; Pays $161,000 To Software Publishers
Association

November 11, 1993 (Washington, Do -- The Software Publishers Association
(SPA) announced today a settlement in its copyright infringement suit
against Boscov's Department Stores, Inc.

In the settlement, the Pennsylvania-based retail chain agreed to institute
copy control procedures in all of its locations and to destroy all
unlicensed copies of software. In addition, the company agreed to pay
$161,000 plus attorneys' fees to the SPA's Copyright Protection Fund. The
suit against Boscov's was filed on July 20, 1993, following allegations
that the company had copied copyrighted software onto the hard drives of a
number of personal computers.

"Boscov's is a company that worked closely with us once they were alerted
to their problems with software usage," notes SPA General Counsel Ilene
Rosenthal. "We're very pleased with the outcome of this action, and with
the fact that Boscov's responded to our action in a responsible manner."

The SPA, through its Copyright Protection Fund, operates a global program
to fight software piracy through a combination of education and legal
action. Initiated in 1985, the program is aimed at reducing the damage
done by software piracy--including lost revenues, lost jobs and higher
software costs for consumers. Since 1988, the SPA has initiated more than
1,000 lawsuits and audits for software copyright infringement, obtaining
search and seizure orders against a wide range of businesses, computer
dealers, bulletin board systems and educational institutions.

Federal copyright law makes it illegal to produce a copy of any piece of
software for any purpose other than as a back-up or as part of the
program's utilization. Statutory damages for companies and individuals
that break the law can be as high as $100,000 for each copyright
infringed. In October, 1992, Congress passed legislation making commercial
software piracy a felony offense with prison terms of up to five years (10
years for repeat offenders) and fines of up to $250,000.

The SPA distributes free materials to help organizations understand the
copyright laws, inventory their software and remain within the law. These
materials, the SelfAudit Kit and SPAudit software, are available from the
Software Publishers Association offices in Washington, DC. To date, this
program has helped an estimated 100,000 companies to correct problems and
remain within the law.

The SPA also maintains an Anti-Piracy Hotline (1-800-388-7478) for
obtaining the free materials and reporting companies and organizations
that break the law. The SPA's anti-piracy hotline receives up to 30 calls
per day. Based on reports to the hotline, the Association took action
against 747 organizations in 1992.

The combination of education and litigation has proven successful for the
SPA-the most current estimates indicate that software piracy has been cut
by almost 50 percent since the program was initiated.

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.

Software Publishers Association
1730 M St, Northwest, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036
202-452-1600,  Fax: 202-223-8756

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