Ben Reid
16 Mar 2007 11:17
The Business Software Alliance (BSA), which represents and protects the copyrights of many of the major software companies, has halted five alleged software pirates who it claims were distributing counterfeit versions of its members' software on internet auction sites. The move was said to be the start of an international crackdown on unlicensed software sales online.
"To all offenders out there, large or small, our message remains the same: software piracy is illegal and we will be bringing legal actions against internet pirates to tackle this serious problem" said John Wolfe, director of internet enforcement for the BSA. "The international litigation announced today is just the beginning of our expanded efforts to fight global software piracy."
One of the sellers is based in the US, one is from Austria, with two coming from Germany. The fifth person, who is UK-based, is suspected to have played a role in the running of a website selling illegal copies of expensive design and architecture software product Autodesk. Microsoft, Adobe, McAfee and Symantec are other companies said to have had their software pirated by the alleged offenders.
Information provided by research firm IDC suggest consumers could be putting their computers at risk when purchasing software online from sources other than the original publisher. Their studies show that a quarter of such software contained additional or malicious code.
"Along with the explosive growth of internet use and online shopping, there is an increase in consumers' exposure to illegal software," explained Peter Beruk, director of anti-piracy and compliance programmes for McAfee and chair of the BSA's internet committee. "At BSA, our goal is to educate the public about how they can protect itself from fraud and to enforce compliance with copyright laws."
Source:
Out-Law News