The software company Micro Focus has accused the Australian police department of using its ViewNow software without authorization.
Micro's software gives access to the COPS criminal intelligence database. Additionally, the company is accusing the police of sharing the proprietary software with third-parties, all without licensing it. The company is demanding $10 million in damages.
This is not the first time the New South Wales police have been accused of piracy. In 2008, IT members of the department were found to have hundreds of pirated movies on their hard drives.
Micro Focus says (via TF) they used to license the software but have not in the last two years while the police used it and shared it with Ombudsman's Office, the Department of Correctives Services and the Police Integrity Commission. All without permission from the software company.
Says managing director Bruce Craig: "When someone pirates your software you think who am I gonna call, the police? In this case, they're the pirates. This is potentially a crime that has to be handled as a civil matter because everybody's got their hands dirty. The victims can't go to police - it's the police who are doing the stealing."
Overall, the police did have licenses for 6500 copies, over 16,000 copies were installed.
This is not the first time the New South Wales police have been accused of piracy. In 2008, IT members of the department were found to have hundreds of pirated movies on their hard drives.
Micro Focus says (via TF) they used to license the software but have not in the last two years while the police used it and shared it with Ombudsman's Office, the Department of Correctives Services and the Police Integrity Commission. All without permission from the software company.
Says managing director Bruce Craig: "When someone pirates your software you think who am I gonna call, the police? In this case, they're the pirates. This is potentially a crime that has to be handled as a civil matter because everybody's got their hands dirty. The victims can't go to police - it's the police who are doing the stealing."
Overall, the police did have licenses for 6500 copies, over 16,000 copies were installed.
