BSA settles with Glasgow firm over licensing

Anti-piracy organisation continues crackdown on software piracy and agrees £18,000 settlement

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has continued its clampdown on software piracy by agreeing a settlement with a Glasgow-based marketing services firm after discrepancies were found in its software licensing.

Equator Scotland will pay the BSA £18,000 after an audit of its software assets found inconsistencies with its Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec applications. The company has also implemented a centralised management plan to keep track of software being used in the future.

Sarah Coombes, director legal affairs EMEA at the BSA, said: “Using unlicensed software breaches intellectual property legislation – whether that breach was intentional or not.

"We strongly advise all businesses to conduct regular audits of the software installed on company PCs and to have enforced employee policies in place that make clear accepted practices with regards to downloading and software usage.”

John McLeish, managing director of Equator Scotland, said: “We were concerned to discover that there were discrepancies to some of the software we had installed.
"We have co-operated fully with the BSA and have taken significant steps to improve our software management processes.”

The audit was part of the BSA's existing campaign in Glasgow which is believed to have the highest software piracy in Britain outside of London.

The campaign will move to Manchester in the New Year as the BSA attempts to stamp out software piracy across Britain.