V.i. Labs’ CodeArmor Intelligence Shows its Mettle in 2009;

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--V.i. Laboratories, Inc. (“V.i. Labs”), a leading provider of piracy business intelligence and software protection solutions, today highlighted major accomplishments during the course of 2009, including the tripling of its customer base resulting in an estimated $4 billion in software assets now being protected by the CodeArmor® platform.

“Our agreement with HP illustrates a growing trend where organizations are realizing the risk facing their critical IP within their .NET applications and the need for solution partners like V.i. Labs to provide supportable protection technology for Microsoft .NET”

The achievements accomplished during the course of 2009 included a product strategy shift that helped independent software vendors (ISVs) identify which companies are using pirated software for financial gain, heightened industry education and awareness of anti-piracy issues and software Intellectual Property (IP) protection, continued engineering advances for the CodeArmor platform, customer adoption in new industries, and expansion into European markets. V.i. Labs also created the Software Piracy Initiatives Forum, an online discussion group that continues to attract industry executives across the ISV community.

“During a particularly turbulent economy where the bottom line was a key issue for most companies, 2009 was the year CodeArmor shined. We proved that software vendors can turn their piracy problem into a method to develop critical business intelligence in new markets and uncover lost license revenue,” said Joseph Noonan, president and CEO of V.i. Labs. “Our efforts over the course of last year have resulted in acceptance of our strategy and technology with leading ISVs in the CAD/CAM, PLM and EDA markets and other high value software vendors.”

Anti-Piracy and Business Intelligence innovation with CodeArmor Intelligence:

Throughout 2009, V.i. Labs helped ISVs develop more productive strategies to leverage their piracy problem to generate revenue through business intelligence, giving them greater control and options for dealing with unlicensed and pirated software use:

• In January, CodeArmor Intelligence became available for Linux platforms and was Red Hat Ready, supporting Red Hat versions 4 and 5. In addition, V.i. Labs became a member of the Red Hat ISV Partner program.
• In May, major upgrades to the solution helped ISVs quickly determine who is using their stolen unlicensed software and where they are located. The releases included expanded reporting capabilities, Google Maps integration, advanced data filtering and simplified integration with third-party applications.
• In July the Company announced a free, automated software piracy alert service for registered ISVs so they can be immediately alerted when new piracy activity on their applications is detected.
• In September, the newest version of CodeArmor Intelligence was introduced, giving ISVs a greater ability to take proactive, actionable steps -- including remotely triggering appropriate responses when software is being used illegally. CodeArmor Intelligence 2.0 included enhanced reporting capabilities that capture additional evidence that ISVs can use to pursue claims against illegal use of their software products.

“Last year ISVs embraced a new strategy: the best chance for revenue recovery is to focus on who is using the pirated software, rather than focusing on who is pirating their products,” said Victor DeMarines, vice president of Products for V.i. Labs. “We focused our development efforts on making CodeArmor Intelligence easier to integrate with back-end systems and gave it deeper forensic abilities to speed the cycle time for revenue recovery. The strategy has proven effective in 2009. CodeArmor Intelligence is being adopted at a rapid clip as evidenced by our growing customer base and revenue.”

2009 showed significant gains for CodeArmor IP Protection:

Driven by the growing need for companies to protect their software IP, V.i. Labs received significant new customer orders demanding its technology and solutions within key markets:

• At the RSA Conference in April, V.i. Labs announced the newest version of its CodeArmor software protection solution. For the first time, software vendors and enterprise customers could protect their intellectual property exposed within the wide range of web-based ASP .NET applications they develop or application programming interfaces (APIs) being used in external networks or in outsourced development projects.
• In September, the Company hosted an online discussion on the key requirements for maximizing software revenue and protecting intellectual property in .NET environments by combining licensing technology, software protection, and tamper detection and reporting.
• Last November, a major deal was struck with HP where CodeArmor will secure intellectual property that enables key features on the HP Scanjet Enterprise 7000n Document Capture Workstation.

“Our agreement with HP illustrates a growing trend where organizations are realizing the risk facing their critical IP within their .NET applications and the need for solution partners like V.i. Labs to provide supportable protection technology for Microsoft .NET,” Noonan said. “Our customers have valuable or sensitive intellectual property embedded in their software code and need to protect it from competitors, malicious hackers and software pirates. CodeArmor goes beyond passive protection approaches to enable software providers to actively guard against tampering, code theft and piracy using active code encryption and provides this protection without significant impact on development or existing customers.”

Taking the Lead in Industry Education, Primary Research and Thought Leadership

A series of research reports were released in 2009 that brought to light the interrelationships and true dynamics of the extent of the piracy problems ISVs face, and a variety of prominent companies participated in joint activities to draw further awareness to the problem:

• In January, with Attorney David Goldstone, a partner in Goodwin Procter’s Intellectual Property and White Collar Crime & Government Investigations practice, discussed the legal approaches to recovering revenue and the issues around software auditing and how to create actionable leads for legal or sales teams.
• In March, a look at ways to combat software piracy and recoup those losses, with the Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDAC) Anti-Piracy Committee Chairman Scott Baeder.
• In April, the balance that must be struck between European Union privacy regulations and automatic software auditing, with the international commercial law firm Bird & Bird in Germany.
• In May, the BSA and IDC issued their annual report that stated global piracy numbers increased from 38 to 41 percent, attributing this to emerging markets and fast growing PC users, particularly in China and India. V.i. Labs issued its own assessment that went a step further, helping ISVs to understand the specific and direct impact of software piracy on their businesses, as well as the best methods for ISVs to recover revenue once they have been compromised. The recommendations were also shared in July at the 46th Annual Design Automation Conference (DAC) in San Francisco.
• In June, a discussion quantified the scope and revenue impact of software piracy and ways to create actionable leads by identifying users of unlicensed software, along with the former Microsoft Director of Worldwide Anti-piracy Investigations.
• In July the Company issued a new report that revealed the top methods used for cracking software and identified the top piracy groups responsible. The report would be the first in a series of forthcoming research focused on a specific sector of the software market: high-value applications with an average value of more than $4,000 USD per seat.
• In September, continued research detailed larger, more decentralized piracy distribution channels and networks available to masses of businesses and individuals. The Company was also invited to share its research at the 2009 Software Business Conference in La Jolla, Calif.
• The year closed out with a November webinar specifically addressing the software market in China, including the legal aspects of recovering revenue from unlicensed software users, with international law firm Simmons & Simmons.

All webinars can be viewed by visiting: http://www.vilabs.com/news/events.aspx

About V.i. Laboratories (V.i. Labs)

V.i. Labs is the first company to offer Piracy Business Intelligence and Software Protection solutions that enable companies to recover revenue and protect their software intellectual property by detecting, reporting, and preventing the misuse of their applications. Its patented CodeArmor® platform allows software vendors and enterprise organizations to harden their applications against theft and tampering, and to gain business intelligence on the unlicensed use of their software to uncover new revenue streams. V.i. Labs is privately held and is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more information, please visit www.vilabs.com.

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