FEDERAL COURT ISSUES SEIZURE AND IMPOUNDMENT ORDER AGAINST RESELLER ALLEGED
TO BE PIRATING ACCOUNTMATE SOFTWARE IN NEW YORK

"SOURCEMATE WAGES AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT INNOCENT ENDUSERS"

MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. (APRIL 11, 1996) - SourceMate Information Systems,
Inc., has filed a major lawsuit in federal court for willful software
piracy against Scott Weber, Weber Systems Inc. and Practical Business
Systems, all located at 300 Wheeler Rd., Ste. 206, Hauppauge, New York.
Upon the filing of the lawsuit, United States District Judge Joanna
Seybert issued an order directing the immediate seizure and impoundment of
the pirated software and other illegal materials.

On the morning of March 29, United States Deputy Marshalls carried out the
Seizure and Impoundment Order by serving notice of the lawsuit and the
Order at Mr. Weber's office and seizing boxes of computer disks and user
literature. The lawsuit details a dark pattern of illegal activities by
Mr. Weber's companies including sales of pirated AccountMate software,
illegal use of SourceMate's registered trademarks and trade secrets, and
unauthorized distribution of copied user literature. SourceMate seeks
unspecified sums in damages and penalties for the illegal activity.

On April 3, the Federal Court issued a restraining order forbidding Mr.
Weber or his companies from selling the pirated products or any other
software that infringes on SourceMate's copyrights, trademarks or other
intellectual property. SourceMate President Ben Tse stated, "The actions
of a few dishonest software pirates such as these disgrace the reputation
of our industry and do great harm not only to developers like SourceMate,
but also to the reselling community and, of course, to innocent endusers.

Reseller piracy deprives developers of critical revenues that help fund the
creation of new products and technologies. It also fosters a mistrust of
resellers among the potential user community, stunting the demand that
fuels our industry. And the damage is obvious to unsuspecting endusers who
pay thousands of dollars for what turns out to be illegal software. I
believe conduct such as this is the single greatest threat to the software
industry." SourceMate attorney, Pete Jakab, of New York's Fein and Jakab
Law Offices: "Software piracy in this country costs the industry hundreds
of millions of dollars every year. The endusers are the most visible
victims. Pirates often charge excessive fees for the bad, often
bug-riddled, knock-off programs. The endusers then have no place to turn
for support because the pirate has disguised the program under a phony
label, making the developer hard to ascertain. In this case for example,
copies of AccountMate software were sold to endusers under the name
"AccountMaster." Fortunately, the industry is learning more and more why
to police this kind of activity. An aggressive stance by the developer
community is the only weapon against piracy."

SourceMate President Ben Tse issued a stern warning to others who illegally
pirate and "private-label" software products. "SourceMate will continue to
take a very aggressive stand against infringement of its intellectual
property rights. If someone outside the industry uses illegal software,
that's bad enough. But if people within the industry copy and sell illegal
software for profit, it must not be tolerated. That is why we are
committed to an enforcement program that does not hesitate to use extreme
measures to protect the rights of developers and endusers. We have a moral
obligation to weed out software pirates who prey upon innocent and
non-technical consumers. We can't allow a few 'bad apples' to cast a dark
cloud over our otherwise honest industry."

Since 1984, SourceMate Information Systems has been the developer and
publisher of the AccountMate accounting software line. SourceMate has
always offered source code with all its products and resells through a
worldwide network of Value-Added Resellers.

For further information, contact: SOURCEMATE INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INC., 20
SUNNYSIDE AVE., MILL VALLEY, CA. 94941. VOICE 415/381- 1011 FAX
415/381-6902. info@sourcemate.com
 
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