Pirate arrested at Windows show

Police last week confirmed they had arrested a 39 year-old man at the Windows Show 97 in connection with the possession of stolen software and hardware.

The man was an exhibitor at the show, which took place between 25 and 28 February at the Olympia exhibition hall in West London. According to a spokesman for New Scotland Yard, between #250,00 and #300,000 worth of software and hardware was involved in the incident.

The Business Software Alliance, the biggest anti-piracy pressure group, was unaware of the incident when first contacted by PC Week.

However, Simon Swale, a BSA spokesman and an investigator at Novell's anti-piracy group, said there is always likely to be a fringe element of stolen goods at computer shows.

"A lot of stands appear to sell CDs on the cheap. You wonder how they do it. Most are totally legal," said Swale. "It doesn't take an awful lot to catch these people - just one disnsatisfied customer buying the software at a show, finding out it is not what he expected, and reporting the pirate to the police."

IT Events, organiser of the Windows Show 97, said it was not aware of the police arrest. The four-day show attracted 300 exhibitors and over 600,000 visitors.

According to estimates from the BSA and SPA (Software Publishers Association) 38% of all software products sold in the UK is illegal. The BSA said that although the UK piracy rate is the lowest in Europe, it is substantially higher than the rate in the US.