Singapore Targeted in Recent Round of SPA Raids
SPA Continues Its Fight Against Software Pirates

September 15, 1994 (Washington, DC) --As part of Software Publishers
Association's (SPA) continued effort to combat software piracy in Asia, a
series of raids occurred this week on three retail outlet stores in
Singapore. These new raids follow nine previous suits brought by SPA
during the past year.

The raids were conducted by SPA officials and Singapore Police Officers.
Software and manuals seized as part of the raid included business
applications, education and home software, CD-ROM applications and various
games.

The retail outlets involved were Game Source Pte., Ltd., DC Network & Co.,
and Company & Trading. They were allegedly selling unauthorized copies of
software which contributes to an estimated $7 million loss to US software
publishers. The copyrighted software programs seized are published by
Davidson & Associates, Electronic Arts, Legend Entertainment, LucasArts
Entertainment, Maxis, MicroProse, Inc. and Sierra On-line, among others.

"Obviously, the problem of software piracy in Singapore remains a
significant problem for the software industry. Though having one of the
lowest levels of piracy in Asia? Singapore remains a hotbed for software
pirates. Raids seem to be the only way to deter the blatant disregard of
the copyright laws in Singapore,"
says Sandra Sellers, Director of Litigation for the Software Publishers
Association. "As long as you can still walk into retail outlets and
request essentially any software title you desire--for a fraction of the
retail price, we will continue to pursue these pirates."

Under Singapore law, copyright infringement is punishable through civil and
criminal action. Civil penalties for software pirates include injunctions,
damages, exemplary damages, discovery and legal costs. If convicted of
criminal copyright infringement, a person can expect five years
imprisonment and/or a $100,000 (Singapore Dollars) fine.

Since 1988, the SPA has initiated more than 1,000 lawsuits and audits
regarding software copyright infringement. The process sometimes involves
obtaining search and seizure orders against a wide range of businesses,
computer dealers, bulletin board systems and educational institutions. A
toll-free telephone hot-line (800) 388-7478 is available to report
businesses or organizations that are pirating software .

SPA's two pronged approach to education and litigation has proven effective
in curbing the problem of software piracy in the United States. Estimates
currently indicate that software piracy has rapidly declined since the
SPA's anti-piracy initiatives took hold in the mid 1980s.

The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of
the PC software industry. Its 1,100 members represent the leading
publishers in the business, consumer, and education markets. The SPA has
offices in Washington, DC, and Paris, France. SPA press releases are
available on-line through CompuServe. (GO: SPAFORUM)

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

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