Net software pirate caught red-handed

Novell and the Swiss Police have busted the largest ever Internet piracy case after catching a dealer, dubbed 'The Pirate', trying to sell #96,000 of unlicensed Novell software over the Web.

The raid took place in Zurich, but further investigations are expected in the UK as local dealers were downloading software from the Internet site.

'The Pirate', a technician who also had files containing instructions on how to make bombs and how to defraud credit cards, will face up to three years in jail and/or a fine of up to #128,000 if found guilty.

Novell licensing manager for EMEA Martin Smith said: 'This may bring about UK-related cases as he (The Pirate) had UK customers that were resellers.

The police are still working on this.'

The cost of software piracy in Europe has risen by 31 per cent to $4.4 billion, according to a 1994/95 survey by the British Software Alliance and Software Publishers Alliance.

The UK had the lowest rate of software piracy at 38 per cent, a four per cent drop from 1994. But Eastern Europe had the worst levels of software piracy at 83 per cent, which represents a loss of US $750 million.