“Accidental Piracy” – GC Hutson, CEO for Sadien, on software piracy & software management
Accidental piracy is the erroneous concept that not knowing about piracy in your organization is a defense when audited by the Business Software Alliance, or some other adversarial third-party. The term was coined from a theory of copyright litigation defense known as innocent infringement. Innocent infringement defenses are strictly reliant on a copyrightable work not properly displaying a copyright notice. Thus, the infringer reasonably believed the work was public domain. Neither accidental piracy, nor innocent infringement offer absolution, whatsoever. In certain cases, where innocent infringement is effectively proven, the damages can be lowered. However, in virtually all software piracy actions, any possibility of innocent infringement and the notion of accidental piracy are undermined with both the posted copyright notices and key codes needed to install the software. Software license compliance is vital to the security and prosperity of your business. Software copyright, piracy and compliance are strictly governed by federal law. And that law dramatically favors the best interests of software companies, almost entirely. The financial and operational consequences of not auditing and maintaining your company’s software licensing can be catastrophic. It can literally destroy your business. The only way to know that you are compliant, is to conduct certified, internal audits on a regular basis. Sadien, Inc. is a consulting group that specializes in software management …
Share This
About the author
4 Comments for “Accidental Piracy” – GC Hutson, CEO for Sadien, on software piracy & software management
The BSA doesn’t really seek “approval” from anyone they audit. They are adversarial auditors, retained and funded (heavily) by “Big Software.” Namely… Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, etc…
These companies pay the BSA and SIIA millions of dollars a year to “educate, lobby and audit” various businesses, across the globe.
Regardless of the negative opinions that circulate around the BSA, people should know that they are formidable.
Thanks for your comment.
“… is a defense when audited by the Business Software Alliance, or some other adversarial third-party.”
Except considering csome tactics, who would even let these clowns do the auditing in the first place?
Awesome.
They come off as powerful.
I disagree… I’m not saying they don’t have any power whatsoever, as that would be erroneous, but can they really come on to your property [regardless of business size] and ask for an audit, or investigate anything without a court order/warrant? I’m sure that’s one thing that could never be considered enforceable in an EULA if challenged, but I’d be guessing on that one.