Thanks to GristyMcFisty we know that the
Business Software Alliance (BSA) has announced that it has collected more than 2.2 million USD in settlements with 25
U.S. companies. As most of our readers will know, the BSA is an
organisation that represents companies like Apple and Microsoft and fighting
against piracy worldwide.
Besides the settlement announcement, the BSA
has also released the results on an independent
study conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. The study shows that from 1,500
professionals they interviewed, 23% admits that some of their commercial
software is used unlicensed:
 "The Ipsos survey reveals a disconnect between what people know
is right and what they do," said Bob Kruger, vice president of enforcement
for BSA. "Businesses are aware of the risk of copying software but as the
settlements announced today illustrate, many fail to put into place
policies and practices that prevent the problem from occurring. We hope
that these announcements will cause every business to reexamine whether
its software management systems are up to speed."
According to the 'Global Software Piracy
Study" recently released by BSA*, 22 percent of software in the United
States is unlicensed. Last year, piracy losses in the United States
totaled more than $ 6.5 billion.
Businesses trying to determine whether
their organizations are using unlicensed software can download the free
software audit tools at www.bsaaudit.com.
The survey results are available at
www.bsa.org/usa/2milliontuesday.cfm. |
Source: Business Software Alliance
