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12 Companies Caught Stealing Software in 2007
buzzardsbay writes "Already forgotten Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report? Here's another kind of 'cheaters' list that folks will want to avoid. Baseline Magazine has compiled the top 12 companies fined by the Business Software Alliance last year for not playing by the rules of asset management. According to the report, many of the BSA's busts are made possible through a BSA Reward Program, which offers up to $1 million to individuals who report offending companies."
The "up to $1 million" that they always talk about is such a misleading advertisement. The BSA bases the amount of reward money based on the amount of fine that they level against the offending company. Don't think for one second that the BSA is going to give you $1 million for reporting a mom and pop corporation that has 10 copies of Windows XP stolen and faces a fine of $10,000 or so. The $1 million reward is only for cases where the fine levelled (and collected) is in excess of $15 million dollars! The BSA also reserves the right to not pay you anything if they don't feel like it.
Just some thoughts for any greedy ex-IT people on Slashdot..selling your soul may not be worth as much as it first appears!
"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Tennyson
said sarcastically of course, but the next time someone asks me why I think they should just go with the F/OSS alternative to Windows, I'm going to hand them this list..... It basically offsets the cost of learning new programs UIs.
Say what you want about Linux fanbois, but they do have this one point going for them.
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Not to be a karma whore or anything, but if these pages bothered you like they did me, here's the info you wanted:
Company: Chef Works, Inc.
Headquarters: San Diego, Calif.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $102,000
Company: Roger's Gardens
Headquarters: Corona Del Mar, Calif.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $73,368
Company: Datatec Systems, Inc.
Headquarters: Alpharetta, Ga.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Autodesk, Borland, McAfee, Microsoft and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $69,000
Company: RAIR Technologies, Inc.
Headquarters: Brookfield, Wis.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Microsoft
Settlement Paid: $150,000
Company: J&B Importers, Inc.
Headquarters: Miami, Fla.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $100,000
Company: Media Lab Ventures, LLC
Headquarters: Tampa, Fla.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Autodesk, and Microsoft
Settlement Paid: $125,000
Company: AccentCare, Inc.
Headquarters: Irvine, Calif.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe and Microsoft
Settlement Paid: $240,400
Company: Investors Management Trust Real Estate Group, Inc.
Headquarters: Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $235,000
Company: Global Microwave Systems, Inc.
Headquarters: Carlsbad, Calif.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $231,500
Company: The Waggoners Trucking
Headquarters: Billings, Mont.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $300,000
Company: Burlington Coat Factory
Headquarters: Burlington, N.J.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Microsoft and McAfee
Settlement Paid: $300,000
Company: Payless ShoeSource, Inc.
Headquarters: Topeka, Kan.
Type of Unlicensed Software: Adobe, Autodesk, Borland, Internet Security Systems, McAfee and Symantec
Settlement Paid: $124,057
Many of the BSA's enforcement actions are made possible through the BSA Reward Program, which offers anywhere between $5,000 to $1 million to individuals who report offending companies.
Your sig(k) has been stolen. There is a puff of smoke!
Top fine is $300,000 and it is corporate, not to individuals... peanuts when you compare what *AA sues private citizens for simply shifting formats.
This is Slashdot for crying out loud. Can't people get it right by now? It is "copyright infringement" not "stealing." They are two separate laws in two separate categories of law based upon completely different concepts of government. Stealing deprives a person of something real and violates their natural rights. Copyright infringement possibly deprives someone of "potential" revenue and violates a government granted privilege, designed for a specific purpose... motivating the creation and dissemination to the people of useful works.
I'm not saying it's right to steal software, but what I'm saying is, if one day, BSA agent is knocking at your door, DO NOT LET THEM IN without any court order. They have no right to check for your licenses without any court orders. keep that in mind.There's that word again. The problem is, they can usually get a court order if they have probable cause, including a report from a current or former employee or the results of running their "free" license checking software they give people to "ensure your licenses are in order." In many businesses (especially very large or very small ones) simply tracking the licensing is a difficult task, especially if your employees have any level of autonomy. Employees buy software on their own or install things from home. No, restrictive security policies won't stop this completely because the people a the top do it and can override IT and because people in IT themselves do it.
Realistically, in small businesses where it is too costly to have IT manage everything, you're better off treating your employees well so they are not motivated to cause you pain. In large enterprises, using professional license tracking software and employee agreement that takes responsibility for anything installed and pervasive use of site licenses or open source licensed software is the way to go.