Abu Dhabi-based Qadan Software seems to have taken software piracy offshore. The company recently advertised QCC, a magazine on tape that apparently includes games by Ultimate and Imaginge.

Imagine's first reaction to this was "Well we're not very happy about it," but operations director Bruce Everiss said that language had already contacted the magazines carrying the ads, threatening a boycott by software companies if they continue to publish Qadan's advertising material. "And then they'll go bust," he added.

Imagine will also be trying to stop the tapes coming through customers, but will be confining its legal activities to this country. "We currently have legal actions in Belgium and Spain," says Everiss, "and I can tell you it's a real pain. There's no way we're going to waste our time litigating in the Gulf."

John Cade, publisher of PCN's sister magazines Computer Answers and Personal Computer World, which published the advertisements, said Qadan's ads had already been banned. He explained that, while magazines would never knowingly carry ads for pirated material, it was often difficult to tell it was pirated until the magazine was on the bookstands.

So what does Qadan Software think of all this? Mr. Qadan in Abu Dhabi first said thathe did not want to advertise again because he did not have a licence to do so. When asked his reaction to Imagine's allegation that he was selling pirated games, he replied: "...I must go now, I don't have time. I have many work."