Law change plan could mean raids by Trading Standards
officers
Trading Standards officers could be given powers to raid and
audit firms suspected of using unlicensed software under reforms to
copyright laws proposed last week.
The planned reforms, contained in the government-commissioned
Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, would give software
suppliers new powers to claim punitive damages from firms found to
have breached licence conditions.
The proposals will put renewed pressure on IT directors to
ensure auditing systems are in place to monitor software use, and
that staff are educated on how to avoid deploying unlicensed
software.
The report, commissioned by the Treasury, sets out to boost the
UK's economic effectiveness by strengthening the enforcement of
intellectual property rights, and calls for tougher penalties that
will have an "effective and dissuasive" impact on firms'
behaviour.
But the review has alarmed some user groups, who see the
proposed involvement of Trading Standards as a step too far. "I
think this is going to turn software licences on their head.
Businesses will be forced to take a different view of the acres of
small print in licences," said David Roberts, chief executive of
the Corporate IT Forum.
Supplier body the Federation Against Software Theft said it
would expect Trading Standards officers to take action against
organisations that persistently flouted software licences if the
Gowers recommendations become law.
"We would argue that the misuse of software on the network used
in the course of business could be treated as a criminal offence,"
said Fast's legal representative, Julian Heathcote Hobbins.
Dai Davis, IT contract lawyer at City law firm Nabarro
Nathanson, warned that the involvement of Trading Standards in the
complex area of software licensing could prove a "complete
nightmare" for firms that have genuine disputes with their
suppliers. "One of the problems with software licences is that they
often say things that do not have legal effect," he said.
IT departments would have to think more carefully about how
software is used, said Kim Walker, head of intellectual property at
law firm Pinsent Masons.
Philip Virgo, strategic adviser to the Institute for the
Management of Information Systems, said businesses should conduct
an audit of their software. "The key thing to remember is that
using unlicensed software is a criminal offence. Gowers is simply
making it easier to enforce," he said.
Virgo said firms could protect themselves against potential
raids by taking pre-emptive action and alerting Trading Standards
about any dispute with suppliers. "The obvious thing to do is slip
a mediation clause into the contract," he said.
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