I worked at a small, poorly-run brokerage firm this summer, and witnessed the stupefying power of the BSA first-hand. They drummed up a lot of publicity by having the local papers run several stories about regional busts they had made (both of which were the result of disgruntled ex-employees turning in their former employees), and buying some ad space on local radio stations. Then the letter came, and my boss, not knowing much about the ways of legality and whatnot, promptly allocated over $15k for systematic re-purchase of all software currently installed on the computers. Most of the progs were fairly up-to-date, and many (but not all of them) were properly licensed. Moral of the story; this is a scam, albeit a very effective one, as it is supported by legitimate businesses engaged in an underhanded approach to bolster their own sales, and I have a feeling that many more bosses than just my own went out and needlessly spent large sums of money in fear of being found "not in compliance".
Slashdot Mirror
I worked at a small, poorly-run brokerage firm this summer, and witnessed the stupefying power of the BSA first-hand. They drummed up a lot of publicity by having the local papers run several stories about regional busts they had made (both of which were the result of disgruntled ex-employees turning in their former employees), and buying some ad space on local radio stations. Then the letter came, and my boss, not knowing much about the ways of legality and whatnot, promptly allocated over $15k for systematic re-purchase of all software currently installed on the computers. Most of the progs were fairly up-to-date, and many (but not all of them) were properly licensed. Moral of the story; this is a scam, albeit a very effective one, as it is supported by legitimate businesses engaged in an underhanded approach to bolster their own sales, and I have a feeling that many more bosses than just my own went out and needlessly spent large sums of money in fear of being found "not in compliance".