Cadalyst - February 2008 - (Page 15)

techtrends “They wanted to buy [our software] sight unseen, no matter the cost,” Dager said. “They asked us to route it to them electronically.” Dager passed on the suspicious transactions. To Defend, Detect, and React The cornerstone of Arxan’s GuardIT product is the company’s patented technology, which uses small security units that “not only defend against compromise but actively detect attempted attacks and react in fully customizable ways,” Arxan states. “One of the guard types we have is called traitor tracing guards,” explained Dager. “They can obtain the identity of the perpetrator by capturing his/her IP address, serial number of the PC, and other information.” Arxan uses approximately 13,000 guards along with binary-code obfuscation to protect its clients’ products. SolidWorks versus Verma Earlier this year, the Indian authorities organized a conference to provide updates — the state of India, as it were — to scores of business leaders with investments in their country’s economy. SolidWorks’ CEO Jeff Ray was in the audience. Amidst the chorus of presentations, one speaker declared piracy was under control and IP was protected there. “I just couldn’t let that one go,” Ray said, “so I raised my hand, introduced myself, and told the story [of the theft of SolidWorks’ source code].” In 2002, Shekhar Verma, a programmer, was arrested in India for selling the stolen source code of SolidWorks to an undercover FBI agent. The entire transaction, captured on video, seemed like sufficient evidence for a watertight case. Yet, Verma walks the streets of Delhi a free man even today, continuing to earn a living as a programmer (for more, see “What Happens in Delhi, Stays in Delhi,” Cadalyst, September 2006). Ray reminded the officials at the briefing that Verma’s case had yet to come to trial. As Ray recalled, the speaker grew uneasy. The only response he could muster was, “The court moves slowly in India.” When the rate of piracy is ranked by region, Central/Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Middle East/Africa rank higher than Asia Pacific, considered by many to be the hotbed of software piracy. (Graph created based on data from the Fourth Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study) copyright. Autodesk’s misrepresentation caused eBay to suspend Vernor’s eBay account, causing him to lose his primary source of income for a month . . .” (For the full text, visit www.citizen.org.) In a letter to Vernor, Autodesk’s attorney Andrew Mackay argued, “Autodesk software is licensed, not sold . . . The limiting terms of the license . . . provides that Autodesk software licenses are ‘nontransferable’ . . . Thus, your attempted sale of Autodesk software violates the agreement.” Initially, Vernor sought to collect $7,000 in compensatory damages, $350 for filing fees, and $10 million in punitive damage. In the amended complaint submitted through Public Citizen, he seeks relief in the form of actual damages and punitive damages, treble damages, attorney fees and expenses, a declaratory judgment that his resale of AutoCAD is lawful, an injunction prohibiting Autodesk from further interfering with his resale, and more. Community Reaction When the story appeared on Techdirt (www.techdirt.com), it prompted a wide range of reactions. “Autodesk is the most pirated software, and that makes [the company] a bit overprotective,” commented someone. Another wondered, “How is it that [Autodesk] can just sell you a license? If you buy the product in the store, retail box, how can that be just a license?” Someone else suggested, “Maybe the software should be required to print the license on the outside of the box . . .” As of December 13, the site logged 72 comments about the story. Though a rival of Autodesk, SolidWorks finds itself on the same side in its stance against software resale. “When you buy a software, you get a license,” SolidWorks’ Ray remarked. “You get the right to use it, but you don’t actually own the code, like you would a car.” www.cadalyst.com | cadalyst | February 2008 Vernor versus Autodesk Whereas the Verma incident might strike many of us as a clear case of IP theft, another incident, now moving through the U.S. court system, is not so straightforward. When Timothy Vernor, a used comics collector, tried to sell a used copy of AutoCAD Release 14 on eBay, he found his eBay account suspended for a month. He believed Autodesk’s actions had prompted eBay’s response. So he filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court. He’s now represented by Public Citizen, a nonprofit organization founded by Ralph Nader. The complaint reads, “Defendant Autodesk . . . wrongly represented to eBay that Vernor’s sale of an authentic, used copy of Autodesk’s software infringed Autodesk’s 15 http://www.citizen.org http://www.techdirt.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - February 2008

Cadalyst - February 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends More than Meets the Eye — A Look at Today's CAD Viewers IronCAD v10 — 3D Modeling Software AcceliArch with AcceliCAD — Add-In Architectural Drawing and Modeling Software CAD Manager MCAD Modeling AEC Insight CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry

Cadalyst - February 2008

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