Reward for reporting use of counterfeit software by businesses has been temporarily doubled in the US, but UK rewards remain the same

Americans willing to report their employers for using counterfeit software will be able to claim up to $1m (£496,181) in rewards, after the Business Software Alliance announced a three-month promotional bounty.

Although the Business Software Alliance's (BSA) US operation ordinarily offers a maximum of $500,000 (£248,056) for "qualified reports" of illegal software use in business, it is doubling that figure from July to October of this year in order to highlight its "commitment to fighting software piracy in US businesses", the organisation announced on Monday.

However, as Anne Broache of ZDNet.co.uk's sister publication CNET News.com has noted, the BSA has publicly paid only one bounty in the US, totalling $15,500 (£7,689) between three informants. The BSA's rewards appear to be entirely discretionary, and someone claiming the full $1m bounty would have had to expose illegal software use resulting in penalty payments of over $15m (£7.4m).

A spokesperson for the UK branch of the BSA confirmed that British whistle-blowers could not expect a similar reward for reporting their employers. The maximum bounty on offer in this country for such reports is only £10,000, and there is no indication of that figure increasing. Last month the BSA did however fine an unnamed UK company £250,000 for its use of unlicensed software.

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