--- TIC-TECH message:
ARE YOU USING UNLICENSED SOFTWARE?
Now is the time to review your software installations and usage and, if
necessary, acquire the licenses you need to become legal.
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) will soon be conducting software audits
in the Seattle area. If your school can not prove that it has licenses for
all the software installed onto your computers you must either remove the
software or purchase the proper amount of licenses needed the be legal. For
more information on BSA's upcoming visit go to
<http://www.bsatruce.com/us/indexmay2001.phtml>
If we are audited by BSA and are found to be in violation of the copyright
laws the district could be subject to stiff penalties.
24 February 1999 -- Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second
largest school district in the country, agreed to pay BSA $300,000 relating
to unlicensed copies of software programs published by Adobe, AutoDesk,
Corel, Lotus, Microsoft, Novell and Symantec installed on its computers.
05 March 1999 --Metropolitan Education District, a vocational school
district headquartered in San Jose, CA, paid $50,000 to settle claims
relating to unlicensed copies of Adobe, Macromedia and Microsoft software
programs on its office computers.
03 February 2000) -- The Business Software Alliance (BSA) announced today
that the City of Issaquah agreed to pay $80,000 to settle claims related to
unlicensed software installed on its computers. In addition, the City of
Issaquah agreed to destroy all unlicensed software, purchase replacement
software and strengthen its software administrative practices.
BSA states that:
10. Copying software undermines policies against taking company
property.
9. Proper software management saves time, money and makes employees
more productive.
8. Illegal software is one of the prime sources of computer viruses
that
can destroy your company's valuable data.
7. Illegal software is more likely to fail, leaving your company's
computers
and their information useless.
6. You can expect no warranties or support for illegal software and
won't
have access to inexpensive upgrades.
5. The cost of software piracy settlements usually far outweighs the
costs
incurred by a company using legitimate software.
4. In some circumstances, you leave your business vulnerable to raids
and
seizures of evidence, including computers, disk drives and other
equipment.
3. In 2000, BSA investigated more than 500 companies. In the past eight
\
years the BSA recovered $58 million in penalties from software pirates.
2. Software piracy can lead to stiff fines of up to $150,000 per
copyright infringed and civil and criminal prosecutions.
And the number one reason companies need to ensure they are compliant with
U.S. Software Copyright Laws... Software Piracy is Theft!
If you have any questions or need assistance, contact Mike Gross
(Information Services) at 252-0362 or by email at
mkgross@seattleschools.org.org <mailto:mkgross@seattleschools.org>.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Apr 20 2001 - 12:35:08 PDT