Over the last five years, companies have paid out £1.8m in fines to the Business Software Alliance for using unlicensed software and in excess of £5.5m have been recovered as a result of FAST activities.

Software theft comes in many forms and in Britain it is estimated that approximately 27%* of software in use is illegal.

All software comes with a licence agreement which states the terms under which the product can be used. Unfortunately, there are people in the channel who knowingly sell illegal software to the end-user leaving them in an unenviable position; out of pocket, software containing a virus, no entitlement to future upgrades, incomplete products, the list is endless.

Often, the user is the victim of the software thief due to ignorance or the lack of proper purchasing controls.
The Legal Affairs Team deals with calls from consumers concerned about the product they have purchased or just wishing to know how to protect themselves or their companies from the activities of the software thief.

This education is an effective and important part of our work. Many consumers do not understand the importance and implications of their software licences and the risks in purchasing infringing software.

This is the reason The Federation spends so much time with its marketing campaigns to get the message across to the corporate and business sectors, education, local authorities and the general consumer.

The Legal Affairs Team supports all these marketing campaigns with legal guidance and assistance. This is seen to be as effective as direct criminal enforcement in undermining and disrupting the activity of the software thief.

*BSA/IDC Software Piracy Report 2005

State of Software Licensing Compliance & Piracy/b>
29th July, London.