[Infowarrior] - BSA Dirty Tricks Update

Fri Oct 16 16:36:16 UTC 2009

This story appeared on Network World at
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/091014-gaskin.html

Business Software Alliance Dirty Tricks Update
The “Bully” Software Alliance still abusing small businesses
By James E. Gaskin , Network World , 10/14/2009

As this column winds down (my last one will by 10/28), I've been  
thinking about the most important issues I've covered over the past  
years. I rate the Business Software Alliance and its use of extortion  
tactics based on tips from disgruntled employees at the top of the  
despicable list. Dangling a cash reward of up to one million dollars  
encourages a lot of story telling. It makes me mad every time I hear  
about another small company bludgeoned by these bullies.

Let's be clear that I'm not excusing people in companies small and  
large who willfully copy software illegally. I'm not giving a pass to  
pirates pumping out thousands of copies of pirated software that looks  
legit down to the smallest detail. Those people deserve to be punished.

I'm concerned about how the BSA bullies small companies that lose  
paperwork, or are victimized by angry employees who destroy the single  
piece of evidence the BSA considers acceptable. What evidence is that?  
Want to guess? If you guess wrong, you pay a fine.

Is the original software packaging enough? Pay a fine. The Certificate  
of Authenticity on the computer? Pay a fine. The original disks  
holding the software? Pay a fine.

When I spoke to the BSA director several years ago, I asked her what  
she considers proof of legal software. She told me to ask the software  
vendors. So I asked the Microsoft person in charge of compliance. She  
told me to ask the BSA. Can you spell Catch-22?

What is proof, according to Rob Scott, attorney, of Scott and Scott  
LLP in Dallas: “A proof of purchase for the software, usually a  
packing slip or completed invoice from the seller. The name on the  
invoice must match exactly the name of the company being audited to be  
acceptable.”

Do you have your proof of purchase documents? Packing slips? If not,  
when the BSA comes knocking in the guise of your local Microsoft  
reseller offering a free software audit, you could be putting your  
business in danger of serious fines.

Besides disgruntled former employees, the rat of choice by the BSA is  
your Microsoft reseller. The Microsoft SAM (Software Asset Management)  
program pays resellers to do “free” audits of customer software. When  
finished, the audit results go back to Microsoft. They didn't tell you  
that, did they? If you don't read the tiny fine print pages and pages  
deep in the agreement, you'll never know until the BSA and Microsoft  
come knocking on your door. When your Microsoft reseller offers this  
free audit, bar the door quickly.

According to Scott, Microsoft remains the largest supporter of the  
BSA, but the company is much more likely to negotiate than sue.

AutoDesk, another BSA member company, loves to file suit in federal  
courts leveraging the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) to make  
things more expensive for the small companies attacked by the BSA. No  
court cases have gone completely through trial to judgement, so there  
is no case law to guide targeted businesses.

Why no finished court cases? Imagine you watch a poker tournament, and  
see one player with six chips facing a player with 4,000 chips. Who  
will win? That's the way the deck is stacked against small businesses  
when the BSA comes calling.

Adobe, another BSA founding member, has started a program to audit  
companies for font abuse. Yes, fonts. Each font includes a copyright  
and you need a license. If someone sends you a Word document with a  
licensed font, and that font gets used by anyone in your company, it  
becomes a federal case. Literally.

One of the BSA tricks Scott really hates is its unbundling tactic. Say  
you have a copy of Microsoft Office you can't prove is yours. Perhaps  
the shipping clerk stole the invoice as he left your company to call  
the BSA and get a reward (it happens all the time). The BSA comes, and  
charges you not for one piece of software, Office, but individually  
for each application within Office, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.  
Each one brings a fine for illegal use.

The BSA trick I hate the most is its demands to prove software you  
purchased with hardware is legally yours. How many times do you order  
desktops or laptops with a few applications, like Office? Most  
companies do that as a matter of course. But if the hardware vendor  
doesn't list each piece of software separately on the invoice and  
packing slip, you're no longer legal. It doesn't matter what the Web  
site or sales brochure says, it only matters what the proof of  
purchase says. If your laptop's proof of purchase doesn't specifically  
list every piece of software, get ready to bend over for the BSA.

Ever asked someone to buy software for the company, then expense it?  
If the sales receipt lists the person rather than the company, the BSA  
claims software piracy. Pay the fine.

More warnings from Scott: “The BSA is up to their same old dirty  
tricks, and continue to represent primarily Microsoft. They're the  
only group that does significant Microsoft matters. Companies from ten  
to five hundred employees using Microsoft software are significantly  
at risk for a BSA audit. Any IT turnover or layoffs create a greater  
chance of audit. Layoffs and mergers create more people looking for  
reward money.”

Want to hear a clip from an Australian news radio story that includes  
a direct appeal to unhappy employees to turn in their company? Listen  
here.  Notice the poor Australian rats only get offered a $5,000  
reward. The news team called Rob Scott for comment, because he's done  
over 130 BSA cases for his clients already. Watch a video clip of mine  
called “Beware the BSA” here.

Go right now to your software license drawer and verify you have what  
you need to survive an audit. Make copies of all those invoices and  
packing slips. If you buy software from a big vendor, sign up for  
their license compliance program. Don't let a Microsoft reseller give  
you a “free” audit for any reason, ever.

Software theft and piracy? Bad. Bullying small companies that don't  
understand all the rules, lose their paperwork, or have proof stolen  
by a reward-hungry disgruntled employee? Worse.