Piracy of Agoura Hills Firm’s Software Reported

Detectives hired by an Agoura Hills software supplier found widespread piracy by unlicensed insurance agents in the Los Angeles area, according to a report by the Insurance Journal.

Robert Meyerson, president of Facility and Services Corporation (FSC), hired Discreet Intervention Inc. in June to investigate software piracy. “The situation reached a level that we could no longer ignore or condone it,” Meyerson said. “We needed to take a very aggressive approach.”

The company produces the FSC Rater, a software package widely used by insurance agents.

Detectives found the pirated software being used by firms from Los Angeles to Calexico, the report said. In addition to insurance agents, furniture and check-cashing stores, and even a wedding chapel in Hollywood, were using the pirated software.

Supervising investigator Thomas Convey said he was “blown away by how widespread the problem actually is. And it runs the gamut as far as how it’s passed around.”

The information was given to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s High Tech Crimes Unit. “We’re looking for people who are selling the product to three or more people, paying FSC and then copying the disks and selling the updates,” Det. John Colbert said. “If they set out to make a profit with it, that is prosecutable.”

The illegal use of the software is a felony, he said.

Meyerson estimated that FSC loses $210 a month for each account that is illegally acquired. Last year, he estimated that FSC’s revenue loss was close to $750,000.

No arrests have been made, but at least four cases have been turned over to sheriff’s detectives, Meyerson said.