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Glasgow firm counts cost of unlicensed software

Michael Feeley | Friday November 16, 2007



The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has agreed terms with Equator Scotland, a marketing services firm, after an audit revealed discrepancies in the firms software licensing.

Following a request from the BSA that it audit its software assets, Equator’s directors were concerned to discover the discrepancies and co-operated fully with the BSA to resolve the situation. The discrepancies arose with regards to Microsoft, Adobe and Symantec.

John McLeish, Managing Director of Equator Scotland, said: “We have always recognised the value and importance of software to our business, so we were concerned to discover that there were discrepancies with regards to some of the software we had installed..  We have co-operated fully with the BSA and have taken significant steps to improve our software management processes.”

The company immediately instigated a centralised management program to ensure it remains compliant with the license agreements it holds in the future. It has also agreed to make a payment of £18,000 to compensate the BSA for any loss caused and its legal costs.

Sarah Coombes, Director Legal Affairs EMEA, at the BSA explained: “Using unlicensed software breaches intellectual property legislation – whether that breach was intentional or not - which is why the BSA strongly advises all businesses to conduct regular audits of the software installed on company PCs and to have enforced employee policies in place that make clear accepted practices with regards to downloading and software usage.”

She continues; “Unlicensed software does not always receive full support and updates as licensed versions and programs illegally downloaded from the Internet have a high risk of carrying viruses, Trojans and Spyware; so having such processes in place is a sensible precaution on many levels.”

The cost of being caught with unlicensed software can be significant; recently a UK business had to pay £250,000 for infringing copyright by using unlicensed software, and illegal versions of the software must be deleted meaning the company has to legally purchase any software it requires to conduct its business.

The Business Software Alliance is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce.

www.bsa.org

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