You're right to comply

Licensing compliance is becoming a major topic for vendors, end users and resellers.

Thanks to the classic 1980s film Robocop, every time I hear the word 'comply' I think of ED 209, the malfunctioning police robot that, during a demonstration, asks a junior executive from Omni Consumer Products to put down a weapon he is holding.

"You have 20 seconds to comply," warns Ed 209. The executive drops the gun. But Ed 209 keeps counting down, then blows its hapless victim away with everything it's got.

Compliance is becoming a major topic area for software vendors, end users and resellers. More importantly, software asset management tools provided by value added resellers will help firms ensure that they are using appropriate software licences as well as genuine products.

While companies such as Microsoft and organisations such as the Federation Against Software Theft have made progress in ensuring that the channel sells genuine products, and end users caught buying dodgy software get hefty fines, there is still some way to go before end users understand the complex world of software licensing and compliance.

Making company directors liable if their firms are using illegal or non-compliant products has gone a long way towards encouraging board-level action to tackle this issue.

But, according to many resellers, compliance has so far been down only to the good will of companies and some diligent large resellers.

One reseller told me that the problem of missing revenue from undeclared licensing is not a new one but has been part of the piracy brief. Conventional wisdom suggests that perhaps billions in missing revenue is waiting to be tapped.

Research has shown that most users are unaware that they have a compliance problem. The good news is they are turning to the channel for help.

Perhaps they remember the word 'comply' in the same way I do and don't want a Microsoft 209 turning up on their doorstep.