INDUSTRY VIEWPOINT - The lowdown on Crackdown 97
Having been accused of heavy-handedness, the BSA defends its anti-piracy campaign
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is currently conducting the most high-profile, comprehensive investigation ever staged in this country into the illegal use of software in small and medium businesses. The campaign has one sole aim: to bring down the rate of software piracy, currently standing at 34 per cent. In stark terms that means one in every three software packages is illegal.
In last week's PC Dealer, Bill Boyle outlined what he perceived to be areas of concern for the channel about Crackdown 97. In this article, I want to allay these concerns and, in Bill's words 'react now to calm channel fears' - fears that I believe are entirely without foundation.
Crackdown 97 is first and foremost an end-user campaign. It aims to focus the attention of company bosses on the bad practice of using illegal software and encourage them to take immediate steps to legalise where necessary. This can only benefit the channel; this is your customer base and we are encouraging companies to go to you to ensure that they are legal. Resellers are being handed an opportunity to provide new solutions to existing and potential customers. There's nothing wrong with moving up the value chain. The only parts of the channel that will suffer are those that cannot give adequate guarantees to their customers that they are providing legal software. We make no apologies for making their lives that much more difficult.
Bill also stated that there is no clear evidence that small to medium-sized businesses are the worst culprits. This is not the case. The BSA estimates that half of the #200 million in lost software revenues per annum in the UK is attributable to SMEs. These firms are particularly vulnerable to software piracy, as they tend to grow quickly and do not always maintain (or even implement) adequate controls over their IT infrastructure.
There is also an alarming sense of complacency and, dare I say it, cynicism.
Research, carried out by one of our members, Microsoft, found that 68 per cent of small to medium-sized businesses think it is 'not at all easy' to get caught using software illegally. This is despite the fact that the same survey found over 93 per cent are aware that it is illegal to lend copied software. Our aim is to rectify this disturbing anomaly.
The PC Dealer piece also mentioned that the BSA only files 60 lawsuits a year - 'hardly an epidemic' in Bill's words. This is something of a red herring. Court action is a last resort and the BSA takes no pleasure in highlighting such cases. We would rather end-users - your customers - were legally purchasing the software in the first place. However, we also have to ensure that robust enough legislation remains in place to protect the software publishers' intellectual property rights, and if these cases also work towards preventing other companies from going down the same route, then we feel it is more than worthwhile.
As part of Crackdown 97, the BSA has sent out questionnaires to 20,000 companies, requesting information concerning their software licence situation and providing help and guidance where there is a problem. In no way will we assume guilt if the questionnaire is not returned. Furthermore, we are legally prevented from using any information or lack of it from the questionnaire as a means of pursuing individual cases. If companies are legal or plan to get legal, then they have nothing to worry about and we are indeed grateful for their co-operation. This campaign is designed to help those who 'don't know' if their software is legal - it is the 'don't cares' that we will come down hard on.
If Crackdown 97 can encourage the individuals responsible for the legal management of their company to pay more attention to copyright laws, then it will be a success. Right now, there seems to be a feeling that software theft is a bit like driving at 35mph in a 30mph area - no big deal. Well it is a big deal and unless this issue gets greater priority in the corporate in-tray, the 34 per cent piracy rate will persist, or even increase, in an ever expanding market for IT products. The channel can only win through BSA activities, as we work to make piracy the serious corporate concern it really is. What we will achieve is an expanded market for legal software that means your businesses will only benefit.