AUTODESK ANTI-THEFT RECOVERIES TOP $20 MILLION

CORPORATE COPYING DECLINES BUT "INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY ROBBERY" EXPECTED
TO PUSH OVERALL PIRACY RATE HIGHER IN 1996

SAN RAFAEL, Ca., February 1, 1996 - Autodesk's aggressive anti-theft
program has surpassed $20 million in funds recovered to date from software
pirates, the company announced today. Despite these inroads, Autodesk is
prepared for a 1996 increase in software theft, fueled by CD ROM
duplicating technology and "Information Superhighway Robbery" over the
Internet.

"The Information Superhighway has opened the door to a new kind of highway
robbery -- the home shoplifting network," said Sandra Boulton, director of
Autodesk's anti-theft program.

"We have the world's largest single-company program for fighting software
theft, in terms of recoveries and volume of cases," Boulton added. "But
it's a dubious honor. We'd much rather see piracy disappear, and with it
the need to devote resources to protect our customers from cheap, illegal
copies of our software that may not work and can't be supported. We'd
rather devote these resources to R&D."

During 1995:

Law enforcement agencies joined the fight against software piracy as
criminal cases began to emerge, some with complex organized crime ties.
For the first time, Autodesk was involved in criminal prosecutions -- two
in the last quarter of the year.

Autodesk recovered $3.9 million by pursuing illegal users of the company's
software, a 4.8 percent increase over 1994 recoveries of $3.7 million.
This represents more than a ten- fold increase over recoveries recorded
for 1988, the first year of the company's anti-theft program.

Autodesk's anti-theft hotline, 1-800-NO COPIES, saw a five-fold increase in
calls during the last six months of 1995. Although many callers were
reporting suspected software theft, more than half were requesting
information to help them establish and maintain guidelines for proper
software use within their organizations.

Theft of software is likely to increase in 1996, despite a continued
reduction in piracy among big corporate customers, who have tightened
their operations in response to extensive education and enforcement
efforts. The overall increase is expected because of technological
advancements that make it easier to create, market and broadly distribute
counterfeit software to individual buyers, who may or may not be aware
that the software they are buying is illegal. Key enablers include
low-cost devices for duplicating CD ROMs and the ability to download
pirated programs via the Internet.

Autodesk is stepping up its efforts to prevent an increase in software
theft during 1996 by improving worldwide coordination of its anti- piracy
programs and by adding resources and staff, including a person whose sole
mission will be to research and recommend action against Internet-linked
software theft.

Traditionally, the majority of culprits have been uninformed corporate
users. For example, an engineering firm might buy one legitimate copy of
AutoCAD (the world's leading PC-based design software, developed by
Autodesk), and make several illegal copies for use throughout the firm.
Many of these users have not realized that copying software is a federal
crime that can mean steep fines and even prison terms for violators.

US law clearly stipulates that it is illegal to make or distribute copies
of copyrighted material, including computer software, without
authorization. The only exception is the user's right to make a single
backup copy for archival purposes. People who break the law risk civil
penalties as high as $100,000 per copyrighted work. Unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of 10 or more copies of software with a total
retail value exceeding $2,500 is a criminal offense, punishable by up to
five years in jail and fines up to $250,000.

Autodesk -- along with the Business Software Alliance, an industry group of
leading business software developers -- has worked successfully to
encourage major corporate customers to create internal software guidelines
and better monitor software usage. Among this group, Autodesk has seen the
amount of theft level off in the past year.

However, Boulton noted, "Now we are seeing a new breed of software pirates
that are much more disturbing, dangerous and difficult to pursue. These
new, counterfeiters are linked to organized crime, often with complex
global connections."

As a result, law enforcement agencies have become more interested and
involved in the problem. In the fourth quarter of 1995, both the Los
Angeles District Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
worked with Autodesk on the company's first major criminal cases. These
two cases alone represent losses of millions of dollars of Autodesk
revenue:

Thomas Alefantes, known in the industry as "Captain Blood," was arrested in
November by the LA District Attorney's Office after being pursued for
years by Autodesk, Microsoft and other software developers. He pleaded
guilty to counterfeiting a registered trademark and is awaiting
sentencing. Autodesk believes its losses from Alefantes' activities amount
to millions of dollars.

Howard Dennis Barnes, charged by the FBI on Dec. 18 with criminal copyright
infringement and trafficking in counterfeit trademarked goods, pleaded not
guilty and is in jail awaiting a hearing scheduled for February 20. Barnes
advertised nationwide on CompuServe and in the classified ads of
newspapers throughout California, and led people to believe he was
reselling software for companies facing bankruptcy.

Autodesk is the world's leading supplier of PC and UNIX-based design
software and PC multimedia tools. The company's 2D and 3D products and
data management tools are used in many industries for architectural
design, mechanical design, film-making, videography and geographic
information systems. The fourth largest PC software company in the world,
Autodesk has more than three million customers in 129 countries.

Autodesk products are sold through Autodesk Systems Centers, Dealers and
Distributors worldwide. For more information on Autodesk, call
415-507-5000, type GO ADESK on CompuServe, or log in with a World Wide Web
browser at http://www.autodesk.com.
 
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