License audit

Has anyone ever heard of Business Software Alliance? www.bsa.org

The site looks legit but a letter my co. received just sounds odd.

It says that we may have installed illegally duplicated copyrighted software programs on our pcs.

"It is imperative that you do not destroy or replace any copies of any of the computer software products published by the above-mentioned companies that are currently installed....prior to the conclusion of this matter...you should not purchase computer software products prior to the resolution of this matter. Purchasing or deleting software at this point will not remedy past unauthorized installation or use."

So - while it looks like BSA is a company interested in making you aware that you may have something illegally copied -- they don't want you to fix it - they just want to catch you at it and fine you???

They list every major company (Adobe Systems, Apple, Microsoft, Symantec, Autodesk, etc.) All our new pcs are in perfect shape and over the last 9 months we have been buying tons of new software.

However on some old pcs, we have OLD versions of software that people aren't even using and I have no idea how many licenses we even have...but we used the original software...not illegal copies. That's something we've been working on over the past year with the company we've been buying our new software from. None of this is any OS software -- we purchase all our computers from Dell with a lot of software already on it.

So - all it says is to NOT do anything, they must hear from us by Sept. 20 and then he'll give us more specifics.

First instinct -- check all our pcs and uninstall anything that isn't legal! Why would we not do that? We haven't intentionally tried to do the wrong thing (yeah, yeah, that's what they all say), but our records will show the new MS Office 2007, Adobe 8, etc. purchased in the last few months.

So - any advice?

 

If you legitimately purchased office, XP, Vista, and Dell products, then you have no problems. They appear gen, but How would they write to you, unless they have used spyware to undermine your security, that is not legal in itself.
I would tear up the letter, and chuck it in the bin.

 

The BSA is the real deal. I wouldn't dismiss this so lightly. They can seriously cripple your business.

 

I did not mean to sound as though dismissing it lightly, I feel the letter is suspicious, and I would check mine out with the retailers - If purchased legitimately, then the only problem I can see is if it is not a multiple liscence, if used on company computers.
Run your own tests - check with Microsoft, if any doubt.
Check with the retailer for other software

 

We have several volume licenses with different software.

Well- that's what's weird with the letter. I agree that BSA is legit. We're just not sure what we're supposed to do because the letter says:

...we "are to conduct our own company-wide investigation into the number of unlicensed software products installed on your computers and to report the results. Your investigation must include an audit of the software installed on all of our computers..and a review of the software licenses and proofs or purchase for those licenses."

BUT we are not to contact any representative from any software company - --

I know I can run BELARC and it will show me what's installed on each computer (I probably have 40 pcs to check out). Other than finding a printed version of licenses written somewhere - is there another way to see how many licenses we should have with software -- is it electronically stored when a program is installed on a pc?

Oh - and progams installed by Dell that came on the pcs when purchased (Windows XP, photo editing pgrm, etc.) -- how do we prove anything about those?

 

>> Has anyone ever heard of Business Software Alliance? The site looks legit but a letter my co. received just sounds odd. It says that we may have installed illegally duplicated copyrighted software programs on our pcs. <<

Oh sure, I've heard of them. The Business Software Alliance is a "legitimate" industry trade group (a.k.a. a so-called watchdog group) whose members include software companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, Macromedia, and Computer Associates.

The BSA's members also include Apple, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, Compaq, CNC Software/Mastercam, Dell, Entrust Technologies, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Network Associates, Novell, Sybase, and UGS.

My understanding is that the vast majority of the Business Software Alliance investigations generally begin with an anonymous call to its hotline or with a report to its "Report Piracy Online Confidentially" webpage - often from a disgruntled employee or former employee seeking revenge. Additionally, the BSA offers big-time reward money (up to US $200,000) to disgruntled employees who report current or former employers for alleged violations of BSA member software licenses.

After an initial investigation, BSA usually contacts the company, although in some cases it pursues an unannounced raid, armed with a court order and U.S. Marshals to audit the company's software. However, in most cases, BSA simply requests that the company conduct a voluntary audit that may (or may not) reveal far more copies of software programs on their office computers than they actually had licenses to support.

BSA requests that the audit include the number of workstations at the company, the number of each BSA member's computer software products which were installed at the date of BSA's first letter, and the number of copies of each BSA member's computer software products that the company was authorized to use as of that date. They also request "verification" usually in the form of a copy of the dated proof of purchase of each such license.

Once BSA and the "accused" company agree on what the audit reveals, the parties generally negotiate a settlement, based on the value of the illegal software and the egregiousness of the piracy.

While many companies use sophisticated, specialized software, it is often the so-called general purpose software that causes the problem. Companies simply do not realize the extent of their problem until confronted - it is usually not a case of outright "fraudulent use" but simply mismanaged or unmanaged use of software.

Important Note: I heartily agree with Mada_Milty. Receiving written notice from the BSA should not be taken lightly. The BSA is well funded and very aggressive. Simply ignore the problem by not responding will likely make your problems worse, leaving the BSA with no other option but to institute litigation against you and/or your company. At the very least you should thoroughly discuss this matter with your company's lawyer(s).

 

Thanks - very helpful...I think I knew who the former disgruntled employee was too but oh well.

Our main problem is paperwork -- i.e. volume licenses have been purchased but who has the info? Not me, but I'm supposed to track down where all this stuff is now. Single user licenses have been purchased per recent software purchases (I have those) . Server licenses can be tracked down too -- again, it's just for the old basic programs.

Like Adobe Acrobat 6. Now we're buying Acrobat 8 for pcs with legal licenses...but I don't know anything about the old v. 6 software licenses...this sounds like fun

 

Thanks for the full rundown Copuable.
I have only heard of one instance of a company, of all people, Lawyers being involved with the bsa, but , I understood these people to be there to stop usage of pirated, or illegalally used software, and it seems that they burden a company, that is , as far as they know, using fully legitimate software, with a complete audit of 40+ computers to check everything, when I would expect them to state the software concerned, and ask for it to be removed , immediately.
It seems ,as pegg says they want the company to check, sometimes very difficult liscences, but to carry on using them- which is contrary to the concept of stopping illegal use.
The man hours and problems for smallish companies in doing an audit like this are a big burden, and it appears very unfair.
None of use condone the use of pirated, or, illegal software.
I understand the Company,s concern with being crippled by such treatment, and , if deliberate , then the Company may well have problems, but in todays world, time, and overload of work, can lead to mistakes.
Basically, each software item will have to be checked, and volume liscences for every piece of software, on every machine then, totted up to ensure all liscences are valid.
I would suggest a program like the full purchasable version Baleric Advisor for that- be sure to buy the correct number of liscences for its use pegg.
Good luck

 

Baklogic, as you say, it is a significant burden on businesses and may seem unfair, but, unfortunately, there are unscrupulous or unknowing business owners and/or managers out there who don’t much care about being in full compliance with software license requirements.

For two years (1999 – 2001), I worked for a small business and became aware that the same Office 97 CD (single-user license) had been used to install Office 97 on multiple computers. I mentioned this to the Office Manager. Her incredible reply was, “Well, we’d have to buy more software”. So, this was the attitude, even though the business was very profitable.

While working there, I became aware of BSA. After that initial conversation with the Office Manager, I later cautiously raised the issue again and finally got permission to buy another Office 97 CD on ebay. I made the purchase, received the software and installed it on the computer used by me. This Office 97 CD appeared to be perfectly legitimate, with a valid Product Key code. I installed it and went through the online registration procedure. A few weeks later, I received a call from Microsoft; they told me the Office 97 software, i.e. the one I purchased on ebay, had previously been registered by another user and, therefore, that our installation of it was not legal. They asked how we had obtained it and I told them. They did not demand that we stop using it but merely informed me of ways to avoid buying illegitimate software and also informed me of BSA.

Your suggestion of a Belarc product as tool for tracking licensed software installations looks good. Their product called BelManage appears to be the tool to use for this.

 

Absolutely.

But two parties can play with court orders. Get in first, go for one of your own - a restraining order. Does this former employee also owe a duty of confidentiality?
No judge will issue a court order lightly (without evidence that a crime is being committed or likely to be committed). They also view very seriously any person or organisation that obtains court orders by making false or malicious claims to the judge.

Of course you must make sure that you are in the clear now. Any person or organisation making claims about the past must offer proof positive to ensure conviction ortherwise they may be liable in themselves as above. You do not have to disprove a thing.

 

The Belmanage covers for up to 50 computers, so it would seem the best bet - free individual copies of Belarc adviser are not legal for business use.
More expense - but could help in finding an irregularity with any liscensing.
good point by Studiot about confidentiality, but as usafveteran did, in past employment, knowing of a possible illegal office 97 being used, convinced the owner to allow further purchase.
As said , not everyone is as honest, unfortunately.
At least, pegg, there is a way to check, with belarc's Belmanage, and check liscences, which should not take too long, and can be printed out.

 

Just a thought - as a business expense, the software licenses purchased by the company might be recorded as a taxable deduction item. See the accountant that performs the income tax forms. They're usually a very saavy resource in these matters.

 

Belmanage sounds great - I had mentioned Belarc because I downloaded it for my PC but yeah, I see that it's not for business use. We have been so careful with licenses for several years now -- it's just the older versions of things that we have lost track of --

So you're saying Belmanage actually checks licenses...we'll look into that then.

 

On the link, it tells you
Configuration management with detailed software, hardware and security reports.
Software License Compliance reports to easily see the number of licenses installed and where they are deployed.

You have used Belarc free on your own pc, so you know that it will show you liscence numbers, and information, so as I understand it, Belmanage helps further, so that you can see how many, when and where etc: as a business would need.
http://www.belarc.com/belmanage.html