Lockyer targets software pirates
Friday, February 26, 1999By Liz Garone
STAFF WRITERFOSTER CITY -- Software pirates might want to take note.
State Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he plans to keep a close watch on their moves, especially if they come anywhere near California.
The attorney general said he plans on taking an aggressive approach to the issue of international software piracy.
"We're getting ripped off," both on the domestic and the international fronts, Lockyer said. "I'll find someone who will enjoy serving subpoenas in other parts of the world."
Lockyer spoke Thursday to about 100 people at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for the fifth annual Silicon Valley Conference on Environment, Health and Safety in Tomorrow's Workplace.
Lockyer did not give specific details on how he plans to combat the problem, but he did ask audience members to keep him informed of any blatant misuse.
Illegally copied software cost the software industry $11.4 billion in 1997, according to the Business Software Alliance, based in Washington, D.C.
Lockyer touched on a number of other challenges Silicon Valley executives can expect in the coming millennium, including developing methods to comply with the state's environmental laws while maintaining vigorous economic growth.
"I don't see a contradiction in embracing both goals," he said.
Teresa Alvarado, a consultant for the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffet Field, said she liked what she heard from Lockyer.
"He appears to have a good grasp of the technology issues facing the area," Alvarado said. "You can trust what he's telling you."
The two-day conference was sponsored by the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group and the Pacific Industrial & Business Association.