Have you ever heard of the
organization called the Business Software Alliance (BSA)? If you haven’t that
might be a good thing. If you have heard of them, you might not be so lucky.
The Business Software Alliance
(www.bsa.org) 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. BSA members include companies such as Adobe, Apple, Borland, CA,
Cisco Systems, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Intel, McAfee, Microsoft, SAP, Sybase, and
Symantec.
The BSA's job is to protect the
property and financial interest of members by identifying and recovering
damages from organizations using the unlicensed property (software) of their
members. And they are aggressive – often working to encourage disgruntled
employees to blow the whistle.
Virtually any business, including
a Tire Dealer, is at risk. Even with good intentions, you are likely to have
software installed and in use on your computer equipment for which you do not
have a license or do not have the BSA’s level of required proof of purchase.
The BSA’s definition of piracy
leaves no room for gray – it is a black or white issue. They define piracy as
“The illegal use and/or distribution of software protected under intellectual
property laws.”
Software piracy is the
unauthorized copying or distribution of copyrighted software. This can be done
by copying, downloading, sharing, selling, or installing multiple copies onto
personal or work computers. What a lot of people don't realize or don't think
about is that when you purchase software, you are actually purchasing a license
to use it, not the actual software. That license is what tells you how many
times you can install the software, so it's important to read it. If you make
more copies of the software than the license permits, you are pirating.
The BSA encourages people to “blow
the whistle” on software pirates. In fact they offer up to a $1 million reward
for turning in offenders. A disgruntled employee could easily and
confidentially turn you in to the BSA. They can do it online in a matter of
minutes, resulting in legal costs and fines that easily could far outweigh the
cost of operating the software legally.
So the next time you think about
using software illegally or pirating it, you should think twice. You may get
away with it for a while, but when you get caught it will be much more costly
in the long run.