"The BSA has no independent law enforcement authority of any kind. Its rights are derived from a power of attorney provided by its member software companies. Those companies have rights created by their software license agreements and under the laws protecting copyrights." (from Scott & Scott, LLP)
The BSA is a private organization and while they can use any information against you in litigation, they cannot come into your business and demand to see your computers with any legal authority. The only power that they have is give to them by the companies they represent. The BSA has no more right to walk into your business and demand access to your server room than Microsoft does. These rights can only be granted after litigation has been initiated. They can do all of the investigation they want from outside and they can stand outside of your door talking to employees... They can even come into your server room if *you agree* to let them in, but they have no legal right to enter until explicitly given that right either by you or by the courts. Besides, even in the absolute largest cases they file, the first step they take 99% of the time is to request a company perform a self-audit. Then they will negotiate penalties and fines as an out-of-court settlement. If you refuse to perform a self-audit or if you ignore them, they will file suit in court and they could subsequently be granted the right to audit your machines... I spent a hell of a lot of time researching this when a previous employer was accused of piracy. The BSA threatened all kinds of action (shutting down the business for two weeks to go through our system, chaining the doors and locking us out...), but they don't have any legal power and as soon as I did the research to prove that, we simply directed them to our new BSA-specialist attorney and they stopped lobbing up their baseless threats and started asking very nicely for us to help them straighten things out. In the end, we ended up with one Windows 2000 server out of 27 that was unlicensed and 3 installations of Symantec Ghost that were unlicensed (the company didn't even know about Ghost). Our company ended up settling out with the BSA for the cost of the licenses and a $500 penalty. Sorry to go on and on about this, but I really don't want anyone to read that last post and get frightened about the Software-Gestapo coming to get them. Of course, I'm not emailing from "lawyers weekly" and I have no legal training. I just know how to do a lot of research. Oh, and I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night! -----Original Message----- From: Jerry Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 11:31 AM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: I Hate Macromedia Wrong. They can come in if the receive a report about you or have credible evidence. No warning, no appeal. Evidence such as the email you just sent, BTW. Jerry Johnson Web Developer Dolan Media Company >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 03/17/05 12:32PM >>> As for the BSA, they notify you before they begin their crusades through your offices, IIRC they have no legal backing to just waltz in and examine what they want without doing so first. Its not like you're hiding dead bodies, its software. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:199201 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
