Nearly half of British businesses would struggle to
prove that their software was legally licensed to them, new
research has revealed.
A survey of IT directors at 300 businesses by software industry
body the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) found that 48%
admitted they would have difficulty proving to their company board
that all their software was legal.
The research found that more than three-quarters of businesses
(78%) had a written software management policy. But 42% of the IT
directors did not feel they had sufficient staff to manage their IT
assets, while just over a quarter said they did not have the budget
to purchase the necessary tools for the job.
More than a quarter of those surveyed had never carried out a
full software audit, while 37% of those who had done so were
concerned about the accuracy of their auditing process.
FAST director general John Lovelock said: “Software compliance
should be one of the top priorities on the agenda of a company
board yet our survey has shown that it is a board level issue for
just 67% of the
organisations we spoke to.”
Lovelock, whose organisation acts on behalf of software firms to
enforce copyright legislation, warned: “The legal implications of
failure to comply are vast but just a third of respondents actually
admitted to being very concerned about it.”
In July, FAST recovered £1.4m for UK software firms – its
highest ever figure for a single month – bringing its total to more
than £7m over the past six years.