Wireless Services Provider Pays $92,500 in Damages to Settle Claims of Unlicensed Software Use
WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the voice of the world's commercial software industry, today announced a settlement with Freedom Wireless of Butler, PA. Freedom Wireless paid $92,500 in damages to BSA to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Microsoft software installed on its computers. As part of the settlement agreement, the company agreed to delete all unlicensed copies of software from its computers, acquire any licenses necessary to become compliant and commit to implementing stronger software asset management (SAM) practices. BSA was alerted to the unlicensed software use by a confidential report made on its website www.nopiracy.com.
Freedom Wireless Incorporated is a wireless retail store founded in 1992 as a spin-off of Clarion Car Audio. It currently operates 50 retail stores throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Freedom Wireless is one of the largest Verizon Wireless Authorized Retailers in the Ohio/Pennsylvania region and was the Verizon Wireless "Agent of The Year" in the region from 2000-2007.
"Freedom Wireless has cooperated fully with BSA throughout its investigation. The audit performed has permitted our organization to implement processes that will assure that software licensing issues do not resurface," said Freedom Wireless president, Darren Rodgers.
"All businesses need to be certain they have adequate licenses for all software installed on their computers," said Jodie Kelley, BSA's Vice-President of Anti-Piracy and General Counsel. "Proper software asset management helps to maximize a company's IT investment and ensure the highest level of software security. Unfortunately, the use of unlicensed software is a significant issue that impacts the technology industry and denies government vital tax revenue. BSA will continue to aggressively pursue all organizations that operate using unlicensed or stolen software."
DATA
2008 U.S. Piracy Rate* |
20% |
|
2008 U.S. Losses to Software Industry |
$9.1 Billion |
|
vs. 2007 |
-1% |
|
Benefits of reducing piracy by 10 percentage points over 4 years** |
32,000 new jobs; $41 billion in economic growth; $7 billion in tax revenue |
|
2008 Global Piracy Rate |
41% |
|
2008 Worldwide Losses to Software Industry |
$53.0 Billion |
|
vs. 2007 |
+3% |
|
*Sixth-Annual BSA-IDC Global Software Piracy Study |
||
**Economic Benefits of Reducing PC Software Piracy Study |
||
BSA Rewards Program |
Know It, Report It, Reward It |
|
Rewards Paid by BSA Since 2008 |
$274,000 |
|
Avg. Annual End-User Piracy Reports Received by BSA |
2,419 |
|
Website for Reporting Piracy to BSA |
||
Hotline for Reporting Piracy to BSA |
1-888-NO-PIRACY |
|
BSA website |
||
Free Self-Audit tools provided by BSA |
||
Facebook (keyword) |
Business Software Alliance (BSA) Anti-Piracy |
|
Fines for violating copyright law |
$150,000 per title copied |
|
If convicted of violating copyright law |
$250,000 per title copied and/or Jail (up to 5 years) |
|
Risks of Software Piracy |
Financial: Thousands of dollars in fines and damages Technical: Information security risks; viruses, trojans, malware; identity theft; Exposure of sensitive data and personal information Legal: Fines, Criminal Prosecution, Risk of being caught by BSA |
|
About BSA
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce. BSA members include Adobe, Altium, Apple, Autodesk, Aveva, Bentley Systems, Corel, CyberLink, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, Embarcadero, McAfee, Microsoft, Minitab, Progress Software, Quark, Quest Software, Rosetta Stone, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, and The MathWorks.
SOURCE Business Software Alliance
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