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The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the voice of the world’s commercial software industry, announced today four California-based companies paid BSA a total of $350,909 to settle claims of having unlicensed copies of software installed on their computers. BSA was represented by the Bay Area law firm of Donahue Gallagher Woods LLP, in Oakland, CA, and by in-house counsel.
Nuvelo, Inc. of San Carlos paid BSA $112,409 in damages for having unlicensed copies of Adobe and Microsoft software installed on its computers. Styles for Less, Inc. of Santa Fe Springs paid BSA $93,500 in damages for having unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec software installed on its computers. Graham Downes Architecture, Inc. of San Diego paid BSA $75,000 in damages for having unlicensed copies of Adobe and Microsoft software installed on its computers. Web U.S. Mail of Garden Grove paid BSA $70,000 in damages for having unlicensed copies of Adobe and Microsoft software installed on its computers. As part of the individual settlements, the companies have agreed to delete all unlicensed copies of software installed on their computers, acquire any licenses necessary to become compliant, and commit to implementing stronger software license management practices. Nuvelo, Inc. is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company that deals with the development and commercialization of novel drugs. Styles For Less is a junior retail store for young girls and teens. It currently has 111 stores concentrated in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida. Graham Downes Architecture, Inc. is an agency that designs retail, hospitality, entertainment, and urban mixed-use space, and Web U.S. Mail is a premier direct marketing response service that provides its customers with customized marketing pieces.
“The BSA has always supported innovation, enterprise, and the protection of our members‘ copyrights,” said Jenny Blank, Senior Director of Legal Affairs for BSA. “From a business perspective, it makes more sense for companies to establish proper software asset management policies in the first place than to risk paying penalties for unlicensed software use down the road. We hope these settlements will raise awareness of the importance of copyright compliance in these industries.”
“The executive management of Styles For Less was unaware of the use of the unlicensed software,” said a representative for the company.
BSA was alerted to the unlicensed software use primarily by confidential reports made on BSA’s website www.nopiracy.com. Each year, BSA receives over 2,500 reports of software piracy to its website and hotline 1-888-NO PIRACY. The majority of BSA’s leads come from current or former employees who had information relating to the unlicensed software activity.
Know it / Report it / Reward it
Under BSA’s “Know it, Report it, Reward it” program, individuals who provide qualified reports of software piracy are eligible to receive up to $1 million in a cash reward. Despite BSA’s program many of the sources do not opt for the reward. Informal studies conducted by BSA suggest that a key driver for reporting software piracy is the motivation to simply “do the right thing.”
In a report released in July that focused on piracy in eight states across the U.S., it was found that software piracy cost software vendors an estimated $4.2 billion in losses. Software piracy in California cost software vendors an estimated $1.36 billion, the highest of any state and higher than the national figure for ninety-eight other countries. Lost revenues to a wider group of software distributors and service providers cost an additional $3.88 billion, enough to hire nearly 16,000 tech workers. The lost state and local tax revenues in California would have been enough to hire more than 7,500 experienced police officers.
Under US copyright laws, software piracy can result in fines of up to $150,000 for each software title copied. In addition, the government can criminally prosecute for copyright infringement. If convicted, violators can be fined up to $250,000 or given a jail term of up to five years, or both. These are not just idle threats. Federal judges are increasingly showing little tolerance for the theft of intellectual property, handing down large damage awards against software pirates. This past March, Maurice A. Robberson, and his brother Thomas K. Robberson, were sentenced to federal prison for managing several for-profit websites and selling more than $6 million in pirated computer software. Both brothers were sentenced to a collective 66 months in prison and ordered to agree to an additional three years of supervised release and pay restitution.
BSA works with businesses to help ensure that their company isn’t at risk for financial, technical, and legal risks associated with illegal software. In addition to resources provided on www.bsa.org, BSA is working with the Small Business Administration to help small businesses develop smart strategies to manage their software. Through the partnership, BSA will educate up to 100,000 small businesses on software licenses, copyright laws, tips on how to purchase safe and legal software online, and how to develop a Software Asset Management program.
Businesses trying to determine whether their organizations are using unlicensed software can download the free software audit tools at www.bsaaudit.com.
* 2007 State Piracy study, IDC, conducted for the Business Software Alliance, 2008.
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce. BSA members include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, CNC Software/Mastercam, Corel, CyberLink, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, Embarcadero, McAfee, Microsoft, Minitab, Quark, Quest Software, Rosetta Stone, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, and The MathWorks.
Janice Laurente202-715-1540janice.laurente@dittus.com
United States
