It's time to RAZE The Jolly Roger .............. and declare war on software pirates!
The stakes have been raised. Enough is enough.
Right around the globe software vendors are fed up with piracy of software and have now started aggressively seeking out those who steal their software.
Steal... that's a strong word to use! Well maybe a better term for it would be, "to copy software and load software and distribute software to as many machines as they like without paying for it" is a better description! STEALING is the correct term! It describes what is going on at present!
Now, before you start bleating and complaining about the price of software "being too high and wouldn't it be better if........", consider the following;
Think about the organisation you work for that maybe be making any of the following items in Australia;
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 cars
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 TV"s
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 packets of biscuits
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 electrical items
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 reams of A4 paper
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 $10 notes
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 sausages
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 light globes
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 printers
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 watches
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 magazines
- If somewhere between 32 and 50 in every 100 "your product goes here"
IS STOLEN, COPIED, LOADED, DISTRIBUTED & NOT PAID FOR............ WITHOUT AUTHORISATION
THEN YOU HAD BETTER TAKE NOTICE AND BE CONCERNED!
If you were the shareholders, directors and managers of the above organisations you would be VERY concerned.
What do the above figures say about Australia and Australian's? We are a bunch of thieves? Maybe, BUT If you are from other countries the above table would show the figures below in every 100 (instead of 32 to 50) so the Australian results are not too dissimilar to other countries;
- UK 26 to 50 USA 25 to 50 Canada 41 to 60 Singapore 51 to 60 Spain 53 to 70 Philippines 70 + New Zealand 31 to 50 Malaysia 71 + Japan 31 to 50 Italy 44 to 60 Ireland 51 to 70 Hong Kong 56 to 70 France 39 to 60 China 91 to 99- in every 100
The lower order figures were derived years ago from industry surveys (the most resent was 1999). The higher order figures are a considered stab-in-the-dark guess as result of the widespread use of technology and Internet connections as well as auction sites, Warez/W8rez sites and parallel importation policies. The wider usage of CD Burners and Internet / Auction site piracy is likely to have forced up the piracy rates VERY substantially. The industry really doesn't know with a great deal of accuracy how much is being copied, taken home from work, imported, downloaded and auctioned and how much it is losing from this sort of activity, hence the rewards and incentives being offered.
The most recent Piracy statistics are from 1999 located at http://www.bsa.org/usa/globallib/piracy/piracystats99.phtml and these outline the method of statistics collection and estimation. It is NOT a precise measurement technique. Reasonable, but not precise.
Is software piracy a deliberate act? In many instances it is. In many cases it is inadvertently done or done through ignorance. Don't be trapped by ignorance or stupid or deliberate acts of staff. Do you know what is installed on your PC systems? Do you even know how many PC's you actually have? When did you last check?
Enough is enough! The bottom line is that software vendors are fed up with having their product STOLEN / NOT PAID FOR, call it what you will, so they are taking some drastic and draconian measures to make those who act in this illegal activity PAY UP! Some sites have been "set-up" by staff and dobbed in for using software illegally just to claim the reward, or to get even and settle a score- BEWARE!
If you check out the following sites they have anti-piracy campaigns, rewards, report hotlines, and even incentives now being offered to dealers (by Microsoft in USA) etc to REPORT and get convictions for those who are involved in these sorts of activities.
There are even regular truce campaigns followed by periods of heavy anti-piracy activity against those who engage in copying, loading , selling, distributing illegal copies of software.
Who's been caught? If you have a look at the Pirates On Parade gallery there seems to be some innocent victims in this saga as companies and organisations get "caught out" by the sloppy and sometimes deliberate acts of their staff. See the lists at; Australia http://www.bsaa.com.au/pirates/index.cfm?subID=4&SMIid=1 Microsoft Australia has a list here Recent Enforcement Actions In USA the BSA lists them at http://www.bsa.org/usa/press/antipiracy.phtml
BUT those who play this game need to be caught. If you are an organisation with a practise of using more software licences than you pad for we have no hesitation in reporting the piracy action you are undertaking to the piracy hotlines located at; BSAA Australia reports can be made online at http://www.bsaa.com.au/rewards/report.cfm?subID=5&SMIid=3 or by phone at their toll free number in Australia 1800 021 143 - Microsoft Australia Piracy Hotline is located at 1800 63 99 63 24 hours a day Toll Free number Microsoft has 3 online forms you can use at Internet Piracy Form, Reseller Piracy Form End-User Piracy Form and a contacts page at http://www.microsoft.com/AUSTRALIA/piracy/APconts.htm
BSA USA Online Report Form International Hotline Phone Contacts International Hotlines FAST UK reports can be made online here FAST Report
Are we in it for the rewards offered? NO! This information is not provided for us to lay claim to the reward, we would just like to make sure that the playing field is level and that others who pay their way are working in a true competitive environment. You have a competitive advantage by stealing someone else's software and you need to be stopped! We have developed software audit tools that you can use to self-help yourselves to make sure that your systems are regularly audited.
If you engage in copying, loading , selling, distributing illegal copies of software you deserve to be caught and pay the full penalties applicable.
If you respect and abide by the rules of corporate governance and business ethics as well as professional ethics, THEN stamp out software piracy in your organisation NOW!
What are the penalties for software
theft?
In Australia - For each unauthorised copy made or distributed by an individual, fines
of up to a maximum of $60,500 and/or sentences of up to five
years imprisonment may be imposed. For companies, government agencies
and semi-government agencies fines for each unauthorised copy made or
distributed can be up to a maximum of $302,500. Management of a company,
government agencies and semi-government agencies may also be personally liable
if they authorised the infringement, knew or reasonably ought to have known that
the infringement was occurring, and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent
it. In addition, civil action can be brought by software copyright owners
against companies, government agencies and semi-government agencies and / or
individuals where damages are unlimited.
PLUS Add to this the costs of disruption to business activities whilst investigations are being undertaken, bad press and publicity, loss of public face for being caught, costs of purchase of additional software to make up the shortfall, costs of lawyers, defence counsel and investigating officers and then go and explain these extra costs to your managers, board of directors, and stakeholders!
Don't be a Software Piracy Victim - Get in first, before the pirates get you!
See our web site at http://www.pcprofile.com for a wide range of audit tools some for FREE that can assist your campaign to clean up your own act BEFORE you get caught out! Some sites have been "set-up" by staff and dobbed in for using software illegally just to claim the reward, or to get even and settle a score- BEWARE!
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