BSA hangs pirate out to dry

BSA praises Trading Standards following confiscation hearing of East Midlands software pirate at Derby Crown Court

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has announced its support for Trading Standards in its court win against an East Midlands software pirate.

The market trader, Gary Scrimshaw, who was caught with more than 11,500 pirated DVDs and CDs, was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this year for breach of intellectual property.

He was also ordered to pay nearly £51,931 within the next six months, or face an additional eight months in custody, as a result of a confiscation hearing at Derby Crown Court on Friday.

A raid by the Trading Standards 2006 found a huge haul of counterfeit software, blockbuster films, chart CDs, and computer games with a street value of over £600,000.

At the time Scrimshaw pleaded guilty to 16 counts of selling illegal discs, including software from BSA members Adobe, Apple Microsoft and Symantec.

Najeeb Khan, vice chair, BSA UK member committee said: “We fully support the actions of Trading Standards in taking this to the courts. It sends a very clear message that the consequences of piracy can be severe and that serious offenders will be pursued all the way.

“Mr Scrimshaw was not only robbing creators of intellectual property of the rewards for their efforts, but also duping consumers and damaging the local and national economies. Software piracy impacts directly on the amount of money generated by tax revenues. Any money spent on Mr. Scrimshaw’s illegal goods was certainly not being fed back in to the local economy and therefore was not bringing anything back to those businesses investing in this area.”

Khan continued: “We urge consumers to purchase their goods from reputable sources, and to seek advice from the vendors themselves if in any doubt about the software authenticity.”

Research conducted by analyst IDC revealed a ten point reduction in software piracy, currently running at 27 per cent, could create more than 13,000 new jobs, £1bn in tax revenues and over £4bn in economic growth.

The trial of Scrimshaw follows ongoing investigations by Adobe and Trading Standards.