Seaward fights illegal online sales

Seaward Electronic has made progress in the its fight against illegal online sales of its specialist software.
At the end of 2006, the company obtained a judgement against a Nottinghamshire man for the sale of one of its programs on eBay, infringing Seaward’s intellectual property rights.
Seaward was alerted to the sale of the product on the internet, resulting in a judgement issued at Nottingham County Court. The defendant was ordered to pay Seaward a sum representing an account of the profits he made as a result of the infringement of copyright, together with the company’s costs, disimbursement and interest. Over 20 copies of the software had been sold over several months, resulting in lost potential revenue of over £10,000. Seaward is also actively pursuing other parties illegally selling copies of its software, the company recently made an out of court settlement with another individual selling its product on eBay.
Seaward Group Finance Director Mark Marsh, said: “The company is very happy with the outcome of the legal action and we intend pursuing the individuals who have purchased the software.
“As part of a zero tolerance policy on software theft we actively monitor the internet for illegal sales that infringe our rights and this example should act as a serious warning to all those involved in supplying and purchasing unauthorised Seaward products on line.”
For further information on protecting genuine software, readers are advised to visit the website of the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) http://www.fast.org.uk.