Anti-piracy group the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has hit back
angrily at criticism from rival Federation Against Software Theft
(FAST).
In a scathing letter to FAST, the BSA accused the group of
"undermining what is an educational and supportive campaign" to
encourage businesses to ensure their software licences are up to
date.
Mike Newton, UK programme manager for the BSA, challenged FAST over
the number of piracy cases it has pursued. "The issue is that FAST
doesn't have the mandate," he said.
The BSA is a private company set up by software vendors, including
Microsoft, Symantec, Adobe, Corel, Autodesk and Macromedia. Its
mandate is to stamp out software piracy and recoup lost revenue for
its members.
Recently the group sent out an "annual software audit return" to
every UK organisation with 20 or more employees, asking them to
complete a software survey.
"Where BSA and FAST differ is that FAST is an auditing company
which charges a consultancy fee, whereas BSA, which represents the
software publishers who write the licences, provides a self-audit
tool for free," said Newton.
However, he admitted that only 20% of the 100,000 voluntary
software audit returns were sent back to the BSA, and that only a
few hundred of the 3,000 tip-offs the group receives each year are
actively pursued.
Newton disputed FAST's contention that the software audit returns
are used to help pursue punitive fines against companies that
cannot produce valid software licences. However, he admitted the
BSA checks against a company's self-audit form if a claim of
software piracy is lodged through the group's hotline.
Despite the criticism, Richard Willmott, general manager of FAST
corporate services, was sticking to his original statement. "If you
receive a letter from the BSA, throw it in the bin," he reaffirmed
to CW360.com.
"I cannot stress enough that membership of FAST is not immunity
from prosecution," he added. "We actively prosecute companies that
are reported to us as using, manufacturing and distributing illegal
software irrespective of software manufacturer. Unfortunately, the
BSA is concerned only with its members and is not a organisation
actively educating users."
Willmott dismissed BSA claims that he belonged to an "auditing
company", pointing out that FAST's charter forbids it from
conducting audits.
Simon Moores, chairman of the Microsoft Users Forum, also
reiterated his warning about the BSA's self-audit form. "What
sensible managing director of a reputable UK company would sign an
admission of guilt? It beggars belief," he said.
"Providing your company has its house in order, neither
organisation can touch you," said Moores. "Piracy is a serious
problem which damages our industry and we need to clamp down on it
in a sensible way."
The deadline for returning the audit form is 30 November. "If a
chief executive officer receives a letter from us, turns to the
people responsible for IT and says this is a problem we should be
addressing and then chooses not to return the audit, that is fine
with us," said Newton.
However, he warned: "People who throw [the audit form] in the bin
are burying their heads in the sand to what is a very significant
problem."