Man Held in Investigation of Pirated Software

Police arrested a man Wednesday on suspicion of selling large quantities of pirated computer software, authorities said.

Undercover detectives arrested Donald Allen Goldberg, 27, of San Clemente in a restaurant parking lot on East Katella Avenue.

Investigators bought more than 25 software programs worth about $97,000 from him during a weeks-long investigation, Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said.

The software officers bought included more than 800 copies of Microsoft’s Windows 98, Vargas said, which Goldberg was selling at $10 apiece. The program usually retails for at least $90, Vargas said.

Detectives of the Anaheim Police Economic Crimes Detail began investigating Goldberg in April after receiving tips that he was placing advertisements for computer software in local sales publications, Vargas said.

Goldberg would list his pager number in the ads and arrange to make sales at parking lots or other prearranged locations, he said.

Goldberg was arrested on suspicion of theft of trademarked or copyrighted material and is being held at the Anaheim jail.

He faces up to five years in prison if convicted, Vargas said.

Police said software buyers should watch for these signs indicating that programs may be pirated: the prices are too low; there is no end-user license agreement; there is no product registration card; back-up disks are of bad quality; manuals are photocopies.