Worldwide problem of software piracy revealed.

Byline: By Anthony Brown

Are you in control of your software? Do you know how many users you have working with each software product on your network? Does the answer to that question tie up with your licences in respect of each product?

If you have purchased software at a marginal discount from a faxed advert or the classifieds can you be sure that it is not counterfeit?

The latest survey published last week by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) suggests that hundreds of companies (and their directors) are risking thousands of pounds in damages for copyright infringement at best, and possibly even criminal sanctions for software piracy.

The BSA's 2003 Global Piracy Study reveals that 36pc of software on computers globally is pirated, with a figure of 29pc in the UK, beating the USA at 22pc. BSA says that lost sales for international and national publishers based in the UK due to pirated software amounts to $1.6bn (pounds 0.86bn). Incidentally, it appears to be quite difficult to come across genuine software in China and Vietnam where the piracy rate is 92pc. Most of the UK infringement comes from "licence creep" (also called "corporate overuse") with businesses failing to keep track of the licences held against packages installed.

BSA and other bodies, such as the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) aim to raise awareness, and the BSA, who represent the interests of software publishers including Microsoft and Adobe, took legal action in 2003 against thousands of companies worldwide. SMEs were the worst offenders in the UK, said to be due in most cases to a lack of a formal software policy or IT function to monitor and audit software use. IT firms made up 24pc of the 2003 settlements reached with BSA.

To tackle piracy the BSA have announced a strategic five point plan, which includes "Respect". This aims to engender respect for IP, starting at an early stage in all schools, universities and businesses. If you are a director losing sleep about the chances of a BSA dawn raid, perhaps the last thing you want is your four-year-old asking you searching questions about your software policies at 6am. Nevertheless all businesses should take stock of their software and their control processes or risk being caught up in a time-consuming and expensive dispute.

* Anthony Brown is a partner in the technology, IP and media team at Watson Burton LLP, contact (0191) 244-4354 or [email protected]

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Publication:	The Journal (Newcastle, England)
Date:	Jul 15, 2004
Words:	409
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