Recently my company director received a letter from BSA, Hong Kong (see below). The director told me to ignore BSA but make sure our software used are legal. Does anybody have similar experience with BSA and how do you deal with them?
Thanks.
David.
---
Dear [my-director's name]
We refer to our mail sent to you on DD-MM-YYYY regarding a series of crackdowns by the Hong Kong Customs & Exercise Department on companies using software without authorization. As you may aware, companies found to possess illegal copies of software for the purpose of or in the course of carrying out their business could face - for every illegal copy - up to HK$50000 and 4 years' imprisionment.
BSA is urging companies that may be at risk of criminal software piracy to take immediate steps to ensure that the software in use on their computer systems is fully licensed. We want to make sure that companies make the most out of the software they use and that they are fully compliant with the law. The first step in achieving this goal is to determine what software is in use on a company's internal computer system, and compare it to the licenses purchased for such software. Should there be any discrepancy between these two numbers, steps should be taken to get sufficient licenses. Some companies undertaking a software audio determine a high level of illegal software use - others find that they have sufficient licenses.
We urge you to undertake a software audit to assess your internal software usage situation, and are willing to provide you with assistance for a limited time only. To be eligible, you must fill out the attached audit form and return to BSA within 14 days from the date of this letter. Forms can either be posted to faxed to us at . BSA will be in touch with our after receiving your completed audit form.
If you have already taken steps to ensure that your company's software use is fully legal, we encourage you to continue to monitor and maintain the legal of software in your organization. Anyone wanting to learn more about software asset management can visit www.bsa.org/hongkong, which contains a series of free software asset management tools that can be downloaded.
Compliance with the law is everyone's responsibility - please carry out a software audit today.
Very truly yours,
[signature of BSA-HONGKONG-chairman]
[name-of-BSA-HONGKONG-chairman]
Business Software Alliance
Chairman
Slashdot Mirror
Recently my company director received a letter from BSA, Hong Kong (see below). The director told me to ignore BSA but make sure our software used are legal. Does anybody have similar experience with BSA and how do you deal with them?
Thanks.
David.
---
Dear [my-director's name]
We refer to our mail sent to you on DD-MM-YYYY regarding a series of crackdowns by the Hong Kong Customs & Exercise Department on companies using software without authorization. As you may aware, companies found to possess illegal copies of software for the purpose of or in the course of carrying out their business could face - for every illegal copy - up to HK$50000 and 4 years' imprisionment.
BSA is urging companies that may be at risk of criminal software piracy to take immediate steps to ensure that the software in use on their computer systems is fully licensed. We want to make sure that companies make the most out of the software they use and that they are fully compliant with the law. The first step in achieving this goal is to determine what software is in use on a company's internal computer system, and compare it to the licenses purchased for such software. Should there be any discrepancy between these two numbers, steps should be taken to get sufficient licenses. Some companies undertaking a software audio determine a high level of illegal software use - others find that they have sufficient licenses.
We urge you to undertake a software audit to assess your internal software usage situation, and are willing to provide you with assistance for a limited time only. To be eligible, you must fill out the attached audit form and return to BSA within 14 days from the date of this letter. Forms can either be posted to faxed to us at . BSA will be in touch with our after receiving your completed audit form.
If you have already taken steps to ensure that your company's software use is fully legal, we encourage you to continue to monitor and maintain the legal of software in your organization. Anyone wanting to learn more about software asset management can visit www.bsa.org/hongkong, which contains a series of free software asset management tools that can be downloaded.
Compliance with the law is everyone's responsibility - please carry out a software audit today.
Very truly yours,
[signature of BSA-HONGKONG-chairman]
[name-of-BSA-HONGKONG-chairman]
Business Software Alliance
Chairman