ZTE found
guilty for
piracy of
EDA software
June 14,
2011
China’s ZTE
Corp. was
found liable
for
illegally
access and
use software
marketed by
high-frequency
EDA vendor
AWR Corp. a
National
Instruments
company.
The “phone
home”
feature of
EDA software
helped the
U.S.
District
Court for
the Central
District of
California
find that
ZTE
employees
had accepted
AWR’s
click-through
license
agreement. A
hearing on
AWR’s
remaining
claims and
on damages
is set to
begin Aug.
9.
Software
piracy has
become a
major source
of concern
for EDA
vendors,
particularly
in China,
where
intellectual
property
laws are not
respected by
many
individuals
and
businesses.
"Piracy is a
huge problem
for EDA and
other
engineering
software
providers
around the
world," said
Kathryn
Kranen, vice
chairman of
the EDA
Consortium,
in a
statement
issued by
AWR. "Piracy
hurts paying
customers by
distorting
their
competitive
playing
fields. EDA
Consortium
members,
including
AWR, have an
active
program to
assure that
our
customers
benefit from
elimination
of software
piracy."

