Business Services Industry

Attachmate Joins BSA to Enforce Copyright Compliance, Reduce Software Piracy; Software Pirates Guilty of Stealing Billions from Software Industry

Business Wire, March 2, 1999

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 1999--As the software industry loses billions annually to piracy, every link of the distribution chain is threatened -- from jobs to tax revenue, to retail sales.

Attachmate Corporation, a leading provider of host access management and e-business solutions, today announced it has joined the Business Software Alliance (BSA), an organization dedicated to reducing software theft and promoting industry growth, as a worldwide member. With this membership, Attachmate will assist BSA in its mission to advocate strong intellectual property protection for legitimate business software by participating in anti-piracy and public policy campaigns.

"Piracy is a serious issue facing software companies worldwide -- with a presence in over 30 countries, Attachmate is no exception," said William Boisvert, president of Attachmate. "The underlying fact is, software piracy affects more than just the software industry. We recognize unauthorized distribution or copying of software has ramifications for the industry's paying customers and, ultimately, economies around the world. Our BSA membership demonstrates our commitment to enforcing licensing agreements and copyright compliance."

Worldwide software piracy losses were estimated at $11 billion in 1997, as reported by the BSA and the Software Publishers Association (SPA) in an independent study on global software piracy. With the emergence of the "New Digital Economy," technology is revolutionizing the world, making the unauthorized copying use and distribution of software easier and more common than ever.

BSA estimates that 40 percent of the PC business software used or sold worldwide in 1997 was pirated. These losses are a serious constraint on the industry growth. Piracy (including illegal network licenses) rates vary by country, but even an assumption of one illegal copy for every legal one implies huge losses for software publishers.

In some cases, corporations are unaware they are breaking licensing agreements. Industry license metering tools such as Attachmate's NetWizard(R) Plus, a rapid-deployment desktop management system for large organizations, manage desktops throughout the entire enterprise.

"We are pleased that Attachmate Corporation will join BSA's efforts to halt software piracy around the globe and educate policymakers about public policy issues that will impact the high tech industry -- one of the fastest growing segments of the world economy," said BSA's president and CEO Robert Holleyman. "Attachmate's commitment to become part of BSA's global campaigns will further strengthen our ability to succeed in stemming the tide of software theft that costs upwards of $11.4 billion annually."

About the Business Software Alliance

Since 1988, the Business Software Alliance has represented the world's leading software developers before governments and with consumers in the international marketplace. BSA educates computer users on software copyright, advocates public policy that fosters innovation, expands trade opportunities and fights software piracy. BSA worldwide members include Adobe, Attachmate, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, Corel, Lotus Development, Microsoft, Network Associates, Novell, Symantec and Visio Corporation. Additional members of BSA's Policy Council include Apple Computer, Compaq, IBM, Intel, Intuit and Sybase. For more information about the Business Software Alliance, please call 1-888-NO-PIRACY, or visit BSA's websites at http://www.bsa.org and http://www.nopiracy.com.

About Attachmate

Attachmate Corporation provides e-business solutions and applications for managing enterprise host access to more than 10 million enterprise users worldwide. With 80 offices in 30 countries, Attachmate delivers a comprehensive framework of host access management products, Web-to-host technologies, consulting services, and global strategic partnerships. For more information about Attachmate(R) products and consulting services, contact Attachmate worldwide headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., at 425/644-4010 or www.attachmate.com.