RECORD JUDGEMENT OF $65 MILLION
AGAINST BRAZILIAN ADVERTISING AGENCY
FOR SOFTWARE PRIVACY

ARTPLAN ordered to pay damages of 500 times the value of illegal software, totaling R$76 million

September 3, 1998 - Rio de Janeiro - The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Software (ABES) announced today the judgment by a civil trial court in Rio de Janeiro against ARTPLAN Comunicação S/A (a well known advertising agency renowned for organizing the Rock in Rio music festivals) for damages equal to 500 times the value of illegal software found in an inspection at this company's offices. The damages award is estimated to amount to   R$76 million (US $65 million).

Earlier this year, Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft, and Symantec, filed a petition with the 37th Civil Court of Rio de Janeiro requesting an inspection of ARTPLAN's premises for suspicion of software piracy. The Court approved the petition, and court-appointed experts visited ARTPLAN's offices on March 13, 1998. After inspecting 82 computers, the authorities found 382 pirated software programs. As with most BSA cases, the investigation of ARTPLAN began with a call to BSA's anti-piracy hotline in Brazil - 1 800-11-00-39, which prompted the BSA and ABES to take immediate action.

The court-appointed experts presented a report on the ARTPLAN inspection to the Judge who made a finding that ARTPLAN engaged in software piracy, and ordered ARTPLAN to pay damages equal to 500 times the value of the illegal software (estimated at R$76.30 7.515). In addition, the Judge ordered ARTPLAN to cease using and destroy all illegal software programs imposing a daily fine of R$5,000 for
non-compliance, and to conduct an audit at its own expense, with a R$5,000 daily fine for non-compliance.

"This decision is expected to have a resounding impact on software piracy in Brazil," commented Antonella Carminatti, BSA attorney in Rio de Janeiro, adding "it is the first court decision since the President signed the new Software Law in February of this year." Simon Horsman, manager of the BSA anti-piracy campaign in Brazil commented, "This decision proves that those who use pirated software risk having very high
penalties imposed against them." Horsman further added, "The problem of software piracy extends from individuals to small, local companies all the way up to international corporations with household names. This decision underscores that all companies must put software copyright compliance on their checklist of
important issues to address." Software piracy has a particularly detrimental impact on the Brazilian economy because, Horsman stated, "the use of illegal software causes underdevelopment in the computer and software industries, frustrating the creation of highly-skilled, high wage jobs, and reduces valuable tax revenue to the government."

Under the Copyright Law, companies found liable for software piracy can face fines up to 3000 times the value of the pirated software, and employees responsible for the unauthorized reproduction of software can face six months up to two years imprisonment. According to a study published by Price Waterhouse, 62% of all software use in Brazil is illegal, which results in annual losses of over US$ 913 million to the software
industry. In 1996, the software industry in Brazil achieved US$ 168 million in total sales of PC business software, employed 54,000 Brazilians, and generated US$ 548 million in collected tax revenue to the Brazilian government from software sales. However, if the Brazilian software piracy rate was equal to the
US rate of 27% from 1996 to 2000 (35% less than the current rate) the software industry would generate 59,000 additional new jobs and approximately US$ 2 billion in additional tax revenue to the Brazilian Government.

BSA - Since 1988, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has been the voice of the world's leading software developers before governments and with consumers in the international marketplace. Its members represent the fastest growing industry in the world. BSA educates computer users on software copyrights; advocates public policy that fosters innovation and expands trade opportunities; and fights software piracy. BSA worldwide members include Adobe, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, Lotus Development, Microsoft, Novell and Symantec. BSA websites: www.bsa.org, www.nopiracy.com.
ABES - Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Software represents more than 500 Brazilian software companies.