Would you offer your throat

The PCA is for cracking down on software piracy, but feels that the BSA's approach is all wrong.

The British Software Alliance (BSA) has launched a high-profile campaign against software theft, a campaign which has attracted considerable criticism.

Although the Personal Computer Association (PCA), a trade association of companies active in all aspects of the channel, recognises that software piracy is theft, it also suggests that the current BSA campaign is heavy-handed and actively alienates those it should be attracting.

While Crackdown 97 is termed 'first and foremost an end-user campaign' aimed at small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there are more than 10,000 SMEs in the UK PC industry. And recognising the likelihood that BSA members will have pooled their databases, it's reasonable to assume the 20,000 businesses targeted by the campaign contain a large percentage of small dealers. The number of calls the PCA has received from irate dealers seems to confirm this.

In a letter to PC Dealer, 29 October, marketing director of BSA Europe Clare O'Brien refutes editor Bill Boyle's statement that there is no clear evidence that SMEs are the worst culprits, saying: 'The BSA estimates that half of the #200 million in lost software revenue is attributable to SMEs.' Evidence and estimates are most decidedly not the same thing, and the PCA would welcome proof that SMEs are the main culprits.

In its documentation, the BSA refers to 600 lawsuits worldwide, but how many of them were against SMEs? And what about proving that #200 million figure? How can anyone quantify something that, by definition, isn't recorded?

The BSA's covering letter to SMEs encourages them to complete the questionnaire, stating: '... If you are legal already, you should still return this form to help us direct our investigational (sic) efforts towards other companies that are not in control of their software use.' Fair enough - but then it states: 'If you do not return the form, your company will remain exposed to the full consequences of legal proceedings which may be brought, in the event that we find illegal software in use by your organisation ...'

You don't have to be paranoid to believe that if you don't complete the form, you'll be first on the BSA's hit list. Don't forget that many legitimate users have genuine reasons (indeed the right) not to register their software.

Here at PCA Towers, we laughed at O'Brien's statement: 'This campaign is designed to help those who "don't know" if their software is legal - it's the "don't cares" that we will come down hard on.' Come off it - there's a lot of coming down hard in the BSA's documentation. It is attempting to frighten the trade. It sounds almost like Microsoft in that respect. But wait, is there perhaps more than just a glimmer of something familiar here?

At the same time as the BSA's missive was landing on dealers' desks, there was another one - from Microsoft. By now, many dealers and retailers are familiar with the industry standard letter from Microsoft's solicitors telling them they've been caught selling counterfeit or grey software and demanding access to their books and premises for auditing purposes as a condition of (perhaps) not suing them.

Well this new letter, proposing a programme for independent retailers, seems to be all sweetness and light, talking about providing them with more information and support. It has just a small sting in the tail. In return, the retailer is required to sign an undertaking not to do any unauthorised copying, to buy only authorised product, and to 'allow our organisation to be audited by Microsoft and/or the BSA'.

Now let's bring the whole thing full circle. A call to the BSA's office to check what percentage of the 20,000 mailshot went to the computer trade was answered with a prompt: 'I don't know, it was organised by Microsoft.' And by coincidence, last week the PCA received a call from an organisation that was compiling a trade database. It wanted to know if the PCA made its database available. Guess who that organisation was working for? Name begins with 'M', ends with 't'. A second call to the BSA, elicited the response that the database came from various members. Hmmm. A rose by any other name ...

If the major players in this industry truly want a partnership with the channel, they need to start treating them like partners, not criminals.

When they demonstrate their realisation that the channel is two-way, then it will welcome them instead of resist them.