Phone Tech Has Line on Piracy

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El Segundo’s AWR Corp. is well known in the cellphone industry for its software that engineers use when building phones. But co-founder Ted Miracco said a lesser-known – yet important – key to AWR’s success was a separate technology that can detect when software is being used illegally.

The technology, which Miracco helped develop over more than a decade, was originally reserved for AWR’s products. But after he and his business partners sold the company in 2011, Miracco decided to introduce his technology to the rest of the world.

Miracco, who left AWR last year, used his share of the $58 million in sale proceeds to co-found SmartFlow Compliance Solutions of Beverly Hills. It began selling the latest version of his intellectual property theft-detection software this month.

The SmartFlow technology is designed to be embedded in other companies’ software, and can detect when and where the software has been hacked or is being used without a license. For example, Microsoft Corp. could add a code to its Word software and the SmartFlow technology would recognize when someone tries to use the program without paying for the rights.

“We really don’t think piracy is going away anytime soon,” Miracco said. “It’s important that there’s a bit of an arms race between the pirates and the companies that are trying to stop it.”

– Cale Ottens

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