The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has warned it will make no allowances for channel firms caught running illegal software after revealing it has reached an out-of-court settlement with specialist security distributor e92plus.

E92plus agreed to pay a sum of £4,500 after carrying out an internal audit at the alliance’s request. The audit showed the firm was running unlicensed copies of Windows 2000 and Windows SQL Server 2000 on some of its PCs and servers.

Julie Strawson, chairwoman of the BSA’s member committee, said the organisation was compelled to issue a statement.
“It is shocking that a network security company is using unlicensed software. If software is unlicensed, it will not be fully supported, so you run the risk of leaving holes in the security gateway,” she said.

Strawson went on to issue a stark warning to the channel. “It is important to play by the rules and the BSA will take action on any company using software illegally.”

Mukesh Gupta, managing director of e92plus, admitted the firm had made a mistake and stressed that the distributor had since implemented a robust compliance programme. He also said the audit had found e92plus was over-licensed in some areas.

“This is like a parking fine. We had been on the meter for too long. It is not as dramatic as the BSA makes out,” he said.
Grahame Smee, managing director of rival distributor Cohort Technology, said: “The fact that a company that is active in this
area can still fall foul of licensing laws shows how much of a role there is for the channel to play in ensuring its customers do not do the same.”