More than 20% of companies have enforced disciplinary
procedures for breaches of software policy, according to the
Federation Against Software Theft's annual survey on software
piracy.
However, the number of firms taking disciplinary action in 2003 was
down significantly from 32% last year, said Fast. The number of
dismissals has also declined dramatically from 36% in 2002 to 18%
in 2003.
Fast's report found that software compliance is gaining a higher
profile within organisations, with 77% describing it as a board
issue, compared to 56% last year.
Geoff Webster, chief executive of Fast, said, "It is good to see
that board-level executives are increasingly taking software piracy
seriously."
But Webster added that businesses are still not getting the message
that it is a legal requirement to provide proof of ownership
licences. Some 54% of respondents to the survey said that, if
required, they would find it either hard or very hard to provide a
proof of ownership licence.