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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Fiondella who wrote (25762)	3/4/1999 10:16:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 42771

Novell Freezing Israeli Investments JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Novell Inc (Nasdaq:NOVL - news) has decided to freeze investment plans in Israel as a result of widespread local piracy of its software, the head of Novell's Israel office said Thursday. ''In Israel, we are suffering heavy losses due to piracy -- about $10 million a year,'' said Amir Rosentuler, managing director of Novell Israel Software Ltd. ''Novell had said it wanted to buy a consultancy company and make other investments,'' he told Reuters, without giving details. ''As things stand now, Novell wants to freeze these investments.'' Rosentuler said the Washington D.C.-based Business Software Alliance, which groups leading software firms, found that 54 percent of Novell software applications in Israel were illegal copies. ''This is something we can tolerate no longer,'' Rosentuler said. Last month, U.S. embassy officials in Tel Aviv said Israel could face trade sanctions if it continued to fail to protect intellectual property rights (IPR). The United States elevated Israel to its ''Priority Watch'' list last year, calling for improved enforcement of copyright laws. Israel has said it was doing its best to push IPR legislation forward and catch violators. ''The big problem is not from the users but from the distributors we sell to. In many cases, a business doesn't know it is using illegal software. The distributor buys software from us and copies it,'' Rosentuler said. ''That is why we decided to freeze our investments in Israel. It doesn't pay to invest in a place where we don't get our money.'' Rosentuler said the company was taking legal action in some cases in Israel and an anti-piracy project was under way. ''If we see an improvement in the situation, we will renew investment,'' he said. dailynews.yahoo.com