FAST unveils new membership scheme to help SMBs

New scheme features five categories and aims to deliver support to smaller software developers

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has unveiled a new membership scheme aimed at delivering support to the SMB sector.

Founded in 1984, FAST is a software anti-piracy organisation which campaigns on behalf of the software industry.

There will be five membership categories under FAST's new scheme, with the lowest aimed at firms with below £250,000 turnover and the highest at £25m plus, with a sliding scale of membership fees. Members will now be entitled to legal advice, IP valuation, discounted corporate banking and networking opportunities.

Alex Hilton, FAST's chief executive, said the scheme was designed to help smaller software developers which do not have adequate resources.

"We are trying to help be a voice to the developer who is often small and doesn't have the right resources, or the scale or the depth of pocket. We have a mix of members right now but we are trying to incentivise the sub-£1m-turnover category because the price jumps in membership fees," he said.

"Our focus is very much in the SMB space because we feel there is a requirement there in terms of support."

Hilton said the software development space has grown exponentially in the UK with the rise of app developers and the emergence of the start-up community, which have brought singly complex legal challenges.

He said FAST is introducing the changes now to make sure it stays relevant to the market, supports its membership community, and brings in new members.

Earlier this month Adobe filed a lawsuit against US retailer Forever 21 for copyright infringement of its software, and Hilton said the case shows that every vendor, from the largest to the smallest, has a right to protect their IP and "if necessary to enforce that legal perspective".