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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Altium targets Poland on software piracy

Design tool vendor Altium is targetting illegal use of its software specifically in Poland, offering an amnesty for just one month for existing users.

Sets December deadline for illegal users

“Piracy of Altium software, both of Altium Designer and older Protel software, is a known problem throughout Poland. With this programme, Altium helps illegal Protel users continue with their favourite EDA tool for another half a year without having to fear legal consequences,” said Jean-Paul Seuren, Licence Compliance Manager EMEA, Altium Europe.
“At the same time, and of much more value to these users, we will help them to move their old Protel projects and legacy data to Altium Designer. Designers will see the benefit from using this next-generation electronics design software and increase their competitiveness in the Polish and worldwide electronics design sector. This software amnesty programme helps illegal users take the first step to battle software piracy.”
Under the new scheme, companies doing electronics design can legalize their illegal copies of Altium’s Protel and Altium Designer software by buying the latest version of Altium Designer at a price of €3,200 that includes half a year amnesty for each legalized seat.
Earlier this year Altium lowered the pricing for Altium Designer to €3,200, a reduction of nearly 70% designed to make electronics design software affordable to every electronics designer. This highlights the key reason why designers were using the tools illegally. The amnesty programme extends that new pricing by adding the support Polish users need to become up-to-date in both compliance and their software.
During this amnesty period, designers can retain their illegal Protel seats to migrate their legacy data to Altium Designer. Altium will also provide free software assurance and support, webinars as well as special migration training. Users will receive an official certificate that enables them to use one unlicensed Protel seat legally for six months for each Altium Designer licence purchased.
Altium’s Value Added Reseller Evatronix SA, based in Bielsko-Biala, will be the local point of contact in Poland to facilitate the software amnesty programme.
Altium Designer is the successor of the well known and widely used Protel PCB design tool but takes a very new and different approach to electronics design. In a single solution, using a single data model, it lets designers create products in all three design domains: PCB layout, programmable hardware (using FPGAs) and software.

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