BSA accused of missing the point in anti-piracy fight

Anti-piracy body's "hit-and-run" reputation is hindering its efforts to curb software piracy rate, claims software tools vendor

The BSA's image as an "attack dog" for the big vendors is thwarting its efforts to curb software piracy, according to a license management tools vendor.

Matt Fisher, sales and marketing director at License Dashboard, argued the fact that the UK piracy rate has hovered in the mid- to late-20s for so long shows the BSA's emphasis on enforcement is not working.

"There have been so many enforcements from the BSA, people are now immune and it has had a counter-effect from the one it hoped for," Fisher said. "Rather than being scared into action, a lot of end users are becoming more apathetic."

The BSA would instead be better served by focusing on the positive aspects of license management and acting as a facilitator between the software publishers, tools vendors such as License Dashboard and end users, said Fisher. He claimed his firm can typically cut an end user's software expenditure by 20 per cent within 12 months because they will invariably be overlicensed on some products.

"Working with the BSA can be frustrating as there are a number of solutions like ours that are designed to help organisations manage their licenses," Fisher said. "I think the BSA can do more to help organisations become aware of those tools.

"There is a perception among end users that the BSA is something of a hit-and-run type organisation. They come in, carry out an audit, establish the license shortfall and then disappear. The BSA doesn't appear to focus on helping people reduce their overage, but is only concerned about under licensing."

Fisher accused the BSA of doing very little to push its own license management offering, SAM Advantage.

"I would encourage them to shake off their attack dog image and instead bring together all the different firms that are involved in license management," he added.

Julian Swan , director of compliance marketing at the BSA, responded by emphasising that education and awareness programmes - as well as practical training in SAM - are an important part of the BSA's activities. "For many years, we have run campaigns drawing the attention of businesses to the risks they run in using unlicensed software and advising them to check whether they are fully compliant," he said.

According to the BSA's latest annual study, the UK software piracy rate fell by one per cent to 26 points in 2011, equating to a commercial value of £1.2bn. The commercial value of software theft rose to a record $63.4bn globally last year with the global piracy rate standing at 42 per cent.

Swan said: "The fact it is down to 26 per cent is a step in the right direction, but we shouldn't convince ourselves about it being part of a trend yet."