Entries from BSA Audits tagged with 'BSA'
Unauthorized Software: Costly to Your Bottom Line
The Business Software Alliance (“BSA”) and Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”) pursue copyright infringement claims against companies accused of installing unauthorized copies of software. Typically, the BSA and SIIA send letters to businesses and request audits of their computer...
Effective Dates in Software Audits are Critically Important
Businesses that receive software audit demand letters from auditing entities such as the BSA or SIIA, or from software companies like Autodesk or Microsoft, often contend they cleaned up their network after receipt of the letter and should be released...
Adopting Software Use Policies to Protect Against Copyright Infringement Claims
The Business Software Alliance (“BSA”), and the Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”) pursue copyright infringement claims on behalf of software publishers, such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Autodesk, among many others. Typically the BSA and SIIA send audit letters to...
Life after a Software Audit: Keeping Settlement Confidential
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is an organization that pursues copyright infringement claims on behalf of many software publishers against companies it accuses of violating its members’ software license agreements. Because the cost of litigation in most cases outweighs the...
Judge Rejects Copyright Damages Compilation Components
In Nature’s Enterprises, Inc. v. Pearson (2010), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected Nature’s Enterprises (“NEI’s”) request for damages for each component part of a compilation. NEI had alleged that Pearson infringed ten of...
Costly Software Audit Mistakes
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) are organizations that represent software publishers seeking to enforce the copyrights in the products they publish. In furtherance of this goal, these entities routinely send letters to...
BSA-Supported Organization Adopts Troubling Position On Open-Source Software
Many businesses targeted for software audits initiated by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) often make the decision as a result of the audit process to forego the expense and risk associated with using BSA-member software and instead transition to open-source...
When to Seek Help for a BSA Audit
Many companies choose to pursue an internal audit of software systems after receiving a request from the Business Software Alliance (BSA). When it comes to deciding how to proceed with an audit, there are multiple considerations, including, but not limited...
BSA Pursues Software Audits Despite Questionable Information from Informants
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) regularly targets small-to-medium sized businesses for expensive software audits to determine whether those businesses are in compliance with their BSA-member software licenses. In furtherance of that effort, the BSA offers cash rewards to disgruntled current...
What is the BSA’s Definition of Software Piracy?
“Software piracy” is a favorite catch-phrase used by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the software companies it represents. Most people understand software piracy to involve the intentional copying and, in many cases, distribution of copyrighted software to third parties...
Most U.S. Businesses Should Co-Operate With BSA Audit Demands…To A Point
A recent 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. A copy of that article is available...
How the BSA Got Your Name
Targeted by the BSA? Almost all of my clients wonder how the Business Software Alliance got their name. Have you heard the BSA’s radio campaign offering rewards of up $1,000,000 dollars to disgruntled employees? The BSA entices disgruntled employees to rat on their employers in exchange for the promise of reward money. If you have been contacted by the BSA, a former or current disgruntled employee likely heard the Business Software Alliance’s Blow the Whistle campaign on the radio.
BSA Member List Changes
Vigilant monitoring of the BSA’s member list can help you protect your business from unneeded expense associated with a BSA-initiated software audit. The BSA member list changes as software publishers are added to and removed from the BSA’s publicly available...
BSA Audit Procedures
Most BSA Audits begin with a report from a disgruntled employee or former employee. The Business Software Alliance maintains telephone hotlines and a web site to encourage disgruntled employees and vendors to make anonymous reports against companies of all sizes....
Software Industry Supports New Cyber-Crime Legislation
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) recently lent its support to legislation pending in the U.S. Congress that would expand the scope and power of federal criminal law pertaining to IT security matters. Under the “Cyber-Security Enhancement Act of 2007” (CSEA),...
Unpleasant Surprises in BSA & SIIA Software Audits
Many companies who comply with a demand by a software publisher or industry association (such as the BSA or the SIIA) for an internal software audit end up facing significant settlement demands after forwarding their audit materials to the other...
Suing the Informant in BSA Audits
The targets of BSA audits frequently believe that they know who reported them to the Business Software Alliance. Justifiably angry, they want to know what legal recourse they have against the informant. Because the informants are frequently out of work,...
Unbundling Software Suites in BSA 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...
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