James Delahunty
8 Aug 2006 20:25
The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has set a new record by recovering £1.4 million in July 2006. FAST is an anti-piracy enforcement body that recovers lost revenue (due to piracy) on behalf of UK software firms. The figure brings the federation's total to £7.3 million over the past six years. FAST represents 160 members from across the software industry.
The organisation has encouraged every country to take a tough stance against software piracy. "The record amount already recovered this year is symptomatic of the ongoing battle we face, one that is not going away no matter what level of education we undertake, and despite the legal ramifications of illegal software use." said Director general John Lovelock.
He added though that the organisation is increasing seeing businesses taking action "to put their software assets in order". This was "an integral part of the growth in awareness of corporate governance and the impact of compliance within both the public and private sectors", he said.
In the United States last month, Microsoft filed 26 separate lawsuits against companies it claims to have pirated software or to have been involved in "hard-disc loading" which is selling unlicensed software along with computer hardware (usually fully built PCs).
Source:
BusinessWeekly