A new form of bounty hunter is stalking the mean streets of cyberspace and it could well be you that ends up in shackles. In the past few weeks, the Business Software Alliance has been involved in a high profile campaign to warn of the perils of using pirated software.
This practice costs the software industry around £7bn worldwide. While there are not too many tears being shed for Bill Gates and his Microsoft mates struggling to get by on their last few billions, pirating is not the computer nerd joke that many people think.
About one-quarter of all the software installed in business premises is pirated, and that does not include games and other non-business software that employees add to their workstations.
And the problem is not confined to large corporates, unable or unwilling to keep track of the thousands of computers within their empire. One medium-size manufacturing company recently had to make an £18,000 out-of-court settlement to the BSA after it was caught using pirated versions of its core business software.
Many users of pirated software see it as a way of life and even take pride in the fact that they don’t pay, largely because they say they can’t afford it. There are many websites from which anyone can download software and pirates believe that once download speeds increase (TTJ October 14), it will be even more prevalent.
However, software industry sources warn that many suites of pirated software are faulty or infected with viruses, and many pirate websites take users on an extended tour of advertisements, before dumping them up a blind alley.
Whatever, your opinion on the software industry and pirating, it is an easy ploy for ex-employees to get their own back. The manufacturing company had recently been involved in a series of re-trenchments and closures, and was turned in to the BSA by an ex-employee.
That person also received the added inducement of a standard £10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of a business or organisation. Believe it or not, there are now full-time bounty hunters out there.
