Software audits: How high tech plays hardball
Dan Tynan, InfoWorld, 4/25/16 ‘Truing up’ licenses amounts to billions of dollars in revenue for the major software makers. Here’s where the money goes — and how it’s extracted.
Software Licensing Tips To Reduce The Risk Of Legal Action
Michael O’Dwyer, ipswitch, 9/29/16 If you require software licensing tips, don’t expect your software vendors to be of any real help, given the prevalence of outsourced call centers by many of the world’s global players.
Most U.S. Businesses Should Co-Operate With BSA Audit Demands…To A Point
An article published by a U.K. business journal suggested that U.K. businesses should refuse to co-operate with demands by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for information regarding BSA-member software installations and licenses. The article’s sources appear to base their suggestions on a combination of personal experience and, perhaps, assumptions about the BSA’s operating procedures in…
Business Software Alliance Report by ABC News
The Business Software Alliance is aggressively targeting businesses accusing them of software piracy. Businesses around the world are facing off with the BSA as the media continues to raise questions about its questionable enforcement tactics such as offering up to one million dollars in reward money. This ABC News report contains the Business Software Alliances’…
Lessons Learned in Over 500 Software License Disputes
Finance Monthly – Spotlight Feature – Software Disputes, Robert Scott, July 2016 Regardless of whether the publisher is Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, Oracle, IBM or any of their trade groups including the BSA | The Software Alliance, Scott & Scott, LLP sees common issues – here are the most critical ones.
BSA Pays Disgruntled Employees to Rat on ‘Pirating’ Bosses
Ernesto, Torrent Freak, 5/28/16 The Business Software Alliance, a trade group representing Adobe, Apple and Microsoft, is known to offer cash payments to people who help them find companies that run unlicensed software. Today we speak with an attorney who has represented more than 250 defendants in these cases, which are regularly triggered by disgruntled employees.
The Importance of the “Audit Effective Date” in BSA | The Software Alliance Audits
One of the first things I ask a prospective client is: What is the date on the initial letter you received from the BSA? The date on the initial in a BSA letter is often referred to as the Audit Effective Date. This date is important for many reasons. I like to tell my clients…
Software piracy claims can ruin your business and reward those responsible
Robert J. Scott, TechCrunch, 5/11/16 There is a highly divisive and costly practice that software companies have inflicted on their customers for nearly a decade. This practice brings with it significant emotional duress, time investment and financial penalties — all of which divert meaningful resources from revenue-driving activities. And to add insult to injury, this…
Unbundling Software Suites in BSA | The Software Alliance Audits
One of the most controversial tactics the BSA uses when calculating its settlement demands is its practice of unbundling software suites such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite. Unbundling occurs when the target of a BSA audit is unable to provide acceptable proof of purchase for one or more installation of a software suite….
Shadow IT: When Employees Become Bounty Hunters
Michael O’Dwyer, ipswitch, 4/11/16 Human error is responsible for more than half of all security breaches as of last year, making employees the biggest cyber threat of all. Shadow IT, on the other hand, is the deliberate installation of software that is not authorized by IT.