April 6, 1992 (Washington, DC) -- The Software Publishers Association (SPA)
announced today that a raid against Grand Central Cameras, also known as
GCT Photo Dealers 420 Lex, Inc., was conducted on March 25, 1992, on
behalf of its members. The plaintiffs include Lotus Development
Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, WordPerfect Corporation, Datastorm
Technologies, Inc., Fifth Generation Systems, Inc., Interplay Productions,
Inc., and Sphere, Inc. The raid was based on evidence that Grand Central
Cameras systematically violated software copyrights by putting pirated
software on computers to gain an unfair commercial advantage in the sale
of computer hardware.

Pursuant to a federal court order, US Marshals and representatives of the
SPA entered the electronics retailer and seized three desktop and two
laptop computers containing pirated software products. In addition, all
unpackaged computers on the premises were searched by the SPA for
illegally duplicated software. Twenty-five diskettes containing copied
programs and serving as duplication masters were also seized as evidence,
as were a sample of sales records. These records will be examined to
determine if customers who obtained pirated software will be named in the
case.

The lawsuit was initiated on March 24, 1992, when a complaint was filed in
the United States Court for the Southern District of New York. Based on
the papers and affidavits submitted, the Honorable Shirley Wohl Kram
granted a temporary restraining order, an order of seizure and
impoundment, and an order to show cause for a preliminary injunction.
These orders empowered the US Marshals to prevent the destruction of
evidence by its seizure, along with other equipment and records that would
substantiate the claims of illegal piracy. On April 2, Grand Central
Cameras agreed to submit to, and on April 3, the court entered, a
preliminary injunction forbidding unauthorized software copying.

Ilene Rosenthal, Director of Litigation for the SPA stated, "It is
important that computer dealers learn that they will not be able to gain a
competitive advantage by stealing from software publishers. Every time an
unauthorized software product is loaded onto a computer, the software
industry loses revenue. This raid should serve as a warning to all
computer resellers that if they are going to break the law, they will be
held accountable for their actions."

Since 1988, the Software Publishers Association has filed over 100 lawsuits
on behalf of its members and obtained numerous search and seizure orders
against businesses, computer dealers, bulletin board services, and
educational institutions that have violated its members' copyrights. The
SPA's anti-piracy hotline, 1-800-388-7478, accepts calls reporting
software violations.

The Software Publishers Association also has distributed free of charge
self-audit materials designed to help businesses, government entities, and
educational institutions manage their internal software practices. To
obtain a copy of The SPA Self-Audit Kit and SPAudit, a software inventory
management program, companies should write to:

SPAudit 
Software Publishers Association 
1730 M Street, NW, Suite 700 
Washington, DC 20036

The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of
the personal computer software industry. Its 900 members represent the
leading publishers in the business, consumer, and education software
markets. The SPA has offices in Washington, DC, and Paris La Defense,
France.

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