BSA offers £20k bounty to rat on your boss

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS

Anti-software piracy group the Business Software Alliance (BSA) is offering a £20,000 reward to anyone who informs on their employer using illegal or unlicensed software.

The BSA already has an online hotline for people to report the use of illegal software within UK organisations but it has now doubled the reward from £10,000 to £20,000 until the end of June this year.

The BSA said it opened 420 investigations in the last year as a result of these tip-offs, the majority of which came from people in IT.

Siobhan Carroll, regional manager for Northern Europe at the BSA, told ZDNet UK sister site Silicon.com that with all the software auditing tools and advice available, organisations no longer have any excuse for being caught using illegal software.

She said: "We are doubling the reward to make software licensing a priority for managers. It might seem harsh, but at the end of the day, there are 27 per cent of businesses who think they can get away with it."

Carroll said disgruntled staff are often the source of tip-offs, and a YouGov poll commissioned by the BSA found that three-quarters of workers would consider reporting their company if they felt their boss had treated them unfairly, while a quarter said poor pay rises would also spur them to grass on their employer.

Talkback

"We are doubling the reward to make software licensing a priority for managers. It might seem harsh, but at the end of the day, there are 27 per cent of businesses who think they can get away with it."
Thanks for this BSA. You couldn't find a better advertisement for open source software.

via Facebook 28 April, 2006 16:16
Reply

"£20,000 reward to anyone who informs on their employer using illegal or unlicensed software" - I would be happy to use "illegal or unlicensed software" to inform on my masters.. But there's no doubt a missing "for" in the above quotation.

via Facebook 28 April, 2006 19:24
Reply

Disgraceful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

via Facebook 2 May, 2006 13:33
Reply

For some reason or another decision makers believe everthing Microsoft says except when it comes down to the details of Microsoft's licensing agreements. Thus they deploy the whole bundle of joy without good record keeping in various license agreement violating ways.

As such plenty of organizations are not in full compliance. Which more often then not means exposing the business to huge legal (financial) liabilities. Just read and actually understand the very fine (technical and legal) print that can be digged up from Microsoft's websites. Add to that that license requirements are constantly changing and you already agreed to that.

Don't think that your reseller, advisor, etc understands this matter completely. Otherwise they would have signed a contract with you stating that they'll pay whatever costs if you're not fully compliant.

Once the true costs and risks are fully enforced upon decision makers maybe then they'll start reconsidering their options. Perhaps listening only to those that said nothing then that what they wanted to hear was not the smartest career move afterall.

via Facebook 10 May, 2006 23:02
Reply

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

56 minutes ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

9 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

11 hours ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

11 hours ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

13 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

15 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

16 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

16 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

16 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

18 hours ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

19 hours ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

1 day ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

1 day ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

1 day ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

1 day ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

1 day ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

1 day ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

1 day ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Moley

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint