Novell takes pirate to task

A Scotsman is starting 300 hours of community service after being caught selling pirated Novell software online. Over $250,000 of goods were seized at the West Lothian home of John Hadlow by Lothian & Borders Fraud Squad. Hadlow had been illegally copying Novell NetWare onto CDs and then selling them through his bulletin board "The Realm". He was finally sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday. It took Novell four years to track the pirate down. "The UK has a relatively lower than average rate of piracy within Europe, but remains a key focus for our investigations because of the increasing number of Internet users," said Simon Swale, Novell anti-piracy investigator. According to a survey by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) in August, 60 per cent of software sold through online auction sites is illegal. ® Related stories: Novell makes pirate walk the plank