The Business Software Alliance logo.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a trade group established in 1988 and representing a number of the world's largest software makers. An industry trade group, also known as a trade association, is an organization founded and funded by Businesses that operate in a specific Industry. Its principal activity is trying to stop copyright infringement of software produced by its members—an activity it claims, using a lost sales metric, to cost the software industry over US$11 billion each year. The Copyright infringement of Software (also known as software piracy) refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer The software industry comprises businesses involved in the development, maintenance and publication of Computer software. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been

It is funded through membership dues based on member company's software revenues, and through settlements from companies it successfully brings action against. In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services For other uses of settlement including legal uses see Settlement.

Overview

Robert Holleyman is its current president and CEO. Robert W Holleyman II is President & CEO of the Business Software Alliance (BSA the trade consortium which represents the interests of major software houses in the world A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator The BSA employs a team of over 100 lawyers and investigators, which it uses to prosecute "thousands of cases a year" in conjunction with local law enforcement. The majority of these cases are reported to BSA either through one of its 65 piracy telephone hotlines, or through online report forms. After receiving a tip, BSA then sends the companies a note with an implicit threat of a forthcoming software licensing audit. Software Asset Management is an organization process which is outlined in ISO/IEC 19770-1 If the BSA finds cases of software piracy, it assesses heavy monetary penalties.

Some companies have switched to free software after having to pay such large fines. Free software or software libre is Software that can be used studied and modified without restriction and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified Most notably was guitar accessory manufacturer Ernie Ball, who settled with the BSA for $90,000. Ernie Ball (1930 – September 9 2004) was an American Entrepreneur, musician and innovator widely acclaimed as a revolutionary in the development After the settlement CEO Sterling Ball vowed never to use Microsoft software again, saying "I don't care if we have to buy 10,000 abacuses. . . We won't do business with someone who treats us poorly. "^[1] Additionally Michael Gaertner, the head of a small architectural firm in Galveston, Texas, wants to rid himself of the software involved in the suit, saying "It's not like they have really good software. "Galveston" redirects here For the town in the US state of Indiana see Galveston Indiana. It's just that it's widespread and it's commonly used. It's going to be a while, but eventually, we plan to get completely disengaged from those software vendors that participate in the BSA. "^[2]

Critique

The BSA enforcement practices against small to medium sized businesses have been the subject of numerous articles. ^[3] Most recently the BSA has come under fire for offering reward money up to US$200,000 to disgruntled employees that report current or former employers for alleged violations of BSA member software licenses. James Gaskin's June 2006 investigative series published in Network World Magazine provides a critique from the small business owner's perspective. ^[4]

BSA has been heavily criticized for its aggressive tactics in forcing small businesses to allow BSA members onto their premises for audits, and for its presumption of guilt until an audit proves one innocent. The BSA is an organization founded in the USA, and is currently without official status in most European countries.

They're also well known for lobbying for the creation of ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency, a network security establishment that operates within the EU (since 2004). The European Network and Information Security Agency ( ENISA) is an Agency of the European Union. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in ^[5]

According to an article in Mother Jones magazine,^[6] the BSA discovered in 1995 that Antel, the Uruguayan national telephone company, had pirated US$100,000 worth of Microsoft, Novell, and Symantec software. Mother Jones is an independent Nonprofit Magazine rooted in liberal political values and known for its Investigative reporting Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Uruguay.(official full name in República Oriental del Uruguay;, Oriental Republic of Uruguay) is a country located in the southeastern part of South America A telephone company (or telco) provides Telecommunications services such as Telephony and Data communications Most of the largest telcos whatever The BSA's lawyers in Uruguay quickly filed suit, but dropped the suit in 1997 when Antel signed a "special agreement" with Microsoft to replace all of its software with Microsoft products. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar This has led to accusations that the BSA is a front for Microsoft, with its other members being enlisted purely to disguise Microsoft's dominant role. A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization such as intelligence agencies, Organized crime groups banned organizations religious Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer

BSA annual software piracy study

BSA has been heavily criticized about the yearly study it publishes about copyright infringement of software. The Copyright infringement of Software (also known as software piracy) refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer This study, produced in collaboration with the International Data Corporation, tries to estimate the level of copyright infringement of software in different countries, as well as the resulting losses for the software industry. International Data Corporation ( IDC) is a Market research and analysis firm specializing in Information technology, Telecommunications and consumer ^[7] The methodology consists in estimating the number of computers shipped in a given country, as well as the average quantity of software installed on these machines. Separately, an estimation of the quantity of legitimate software sold in the country is produced, and the difference between the total amount of software estimated to be in use in the country and the estimation of software sold is used as an indicator of the rate of unauthorized copy. A estimation of the total amount lost is produced by multiplying the estimator number of unauthorized copies by the price of the original software.

These estimates have been criticized as being exaggerated and many flaws of the methodology have been pointed out; some of the figures seem to be guesses rather than solid data, and some data may not be representative. The calculation of the losses, in particular, assumes that each piece of copied software represents a direct loss of sale for software companies, a very contested assumption. ^[8] In fact, the assertion is provably false. For it to be true, demand has to be totally independent of price. But if it were, everyone would pay for the software, to avoid the prosecution risk. So the piracy rate would be 0%. Since it isn't, it proves the original assumption (that every pirated copy is a lost sale) is wrong. The study's assumptions have been described as being unworthy of a first year student of statistics. ^[9] In Australia, a draft government report has described these statistics as a "self-serving hyperbole", "unverified and epistemologically unreliable". For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge ^[10]

These criticisms have been aggravated by the use of the BSA study to lobby for new, stricter copyright laws and to seek tougher penalties for people convicted of copyright infringement on software; in Britain, a judge cited the data provided by the BSA to justify a lengthy prison sentence for two people convicted of copyright infringement. ^[8]

Other studies published by the BSA, such as a study claiming that software patents are of the same importance to small and medium enterprises and large companies, have also been described as misleading and as using a flawed methodology, but the results have nevertheless been quoted by politicians. Small and medium enterprises (also SMEs, small and medium businesses, SMBs, and variations thereof are companies whose headcount or ^[11]

Campaigns

A recent investigative report published by Network World Magazine exposes the dark side of the Business Software Alliance's enforcement campaigns and practices. The article by James Gaskin is titled "Business Software Alliance: Outright Liars or Just Truth Challenged? Don't Expect Fair Play from the Bully Software Alliance. "^[4]

A Business Software Alliance advertising campaign running on Google as of August 16, 2005 read as follows: "BSA - Official Site Earn up to $200,000 for Reporting Pirated Software - All Confidential bsa. Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. org/reportpiracy. "

Among the more provocative approaches BSA has taken is the Bust Your Boss! campaign that has appeared on billboards, printed publications and on the Internet with the following suggestion: "Is your current or former employer using pirated software in their office? Hit 'em where it really hurts - report their illegal software use today. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks "

Another recent campaign known as "Play It Cyber Safe" features an anti-piracy ferret for a mascot. The ferret is a domestic Mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. The term mascot – defined as a term for any person animal or object thought to bring Luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common The supposed goal of the campaign is to "educate children about the importance of protecting and respecting copyrighted works". Starting September 1, 2004, children also got to vote on one of five pre-approved names for the ferret. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "

Members

• Adobe Systems
• Apple Inc.
• Autodesk
• Avid Technology
• Bentley Systems
• Borland
• CA, Inc.
• Cadence Design Systems
• Cisco Systems
• CNC Software/Mastercam
• Dell
• EMC Corporation
• Entrust
• Hewlett-Packard
• IBM
• Intel Corporation
• McAfee
• Microsoft
• Monotype Imaging
• Network Associates
• Oracle Corporation
• PTC
• RSA Security
• SAP
• SolidWorks
• Sybase
• Symantec
• Synopsys
• The Mathworks
• UGS PLM Solutions Inc.

Related organizations

• Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft

See also

• BayTSP

Notes

External links

• Articles and Information Regarding BSA Audits
• BSA official site
• SourceWatch page on the BSA: Considered disinformation by some
• BSA's Play It Cyber Safe campaign
• BSA and software patents