The economic downturn may lead to the increased use of illegal
software, says the Federation Against Software Theft (Fast).
Fast questioned company directors at a recent trade event and
found that 79% felt businesses would be more likely to try and save
costs by not being appropriately licensed, although it's not clear
whether they were admitting their own temptation.
Fast's chief executive, John Lovelock, said, "When times are
hard economically the automatic response is to look at ways to
reduce cost. Our survey has highlighted a worrying trend that
indicates that more and more companies are willing to risk breaking
the law in the name of cost cutting."
The most effective, and legal, way of reducing software costs is
to introduce a software asset management (Sam) programme to
highlight unused software in the system, said Lovelock.
The survey also found that 80% of respondents felt that
obtaining illegal software was "very easy", with 31.5% of the
sample citing the internet as the easiest way to access illegal
copies of software programs.
A further 22.5% cited peer-to-peer file sharing, 11.5% mentioned
online auction sites, and 13.6% suggested car boot sales. Even the
pub came in for a mention, suggested by 9.5% of the sample.
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