The problem with the software industry

Software licensing is no laughing matter when the BSA funds it's operations through squeezing small businesses with legal extortion.

extortion: Unlawful exaction of money or property through intimidation or undue exercise of authority. It may include threats of physical harm, criminal prosecution, or public exposure. Some forms of threat, especially those made in writing, are occasionally singled out for separate statutory treatment as blackmail.

It's articles like these that should enrage any computer user.

"BSA audits zing companies for software that came with used computers they bought to save money. The BSA considers software pirated if a company can't produce a receipt for it, no matter how long ago it was purchased. Software boxes or certificates of authenticity are no help, because the BSA argues the software could have been obtained from an illegitimate source."

"Beyond hunting for dicey characters buying and selling counterfeits, the BSA also devotes significant attention to other forms of what it calls piracy by business users. The money harvested in these company-by-company crackdowns is not parceled to its members whose copyrights were infringed; the funds stay with the BSA to fuel its operations. (BSA's worldwide settlements soared 53 percent last year to $56 million.)"

It's time to reel back in the BSA and it's piracy. It's far too easy to fall out of compliance when the BSA requires such high standards to prove that the software is legitimate. I would contend that most piracy is blatant and that going after companies for simple software licensing foul-ups sends the wrong message.

"Enraged, CEO Sterling Ball vowed never to use Microsoft software again, even if "we have to buy 10,000 abacuses." He shifted to open-source software, which lacks such legal entanglements because its underlying code is freely distributed."

While I laud Bell for switching to Open Source it's for the wrong reasons. He is not switching because it's the best tool for the job, but because he believes it will protect him from further extortion from the BSA. In reality the BSA can hit him up again and he will still have to prove that he does not have any illegal software on his systems costing him time and money.