The following interactive ad came up as I checked a Yahoo email accuont:
It takes you to Business Software Alliance who is “Promoting a Safe and Legal Digital World.” (Hey look, they also speak “engineering;” Yippee, finally a whistle-blowing effort that talks to me eye-to-eye, in my own language! Oh, they even recruited Dilbert, they must be legit!)
This ad has been fermenting in my mind for the past few days, and I’ve been thinking of what my reaction should be. Well, here it is: it’s foul! I am not advocating software piracy, but this? It’s the lowest type of appeal to the lowest kind of short term gratification: revenge. “Stick it to your boss where it really hurts!” Boy, that’s naaaasty.
Now, the reality check. Why are they stooping this low? I think they are hurting by the popularity of OSS and now, the pirated software portion is starting to hurt the bottom line a little more. They can’t do much about OSS, so they seek out the “insiders.” I don’t think this particular strategy is going to work. Either they get very little real whistle-blowers; and/or, they will be swamped by false reporting. I doubt that they will get much mileage with this one.
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Stuart Berman · April 6, 2005 at 20:54
I hope you are right – the BSA isn’t about justice, it is about profit.
This ad seems to be saying, ‘call us, we’ll screw your company, regardless of their guilt or innocence’. It’s payback time and you don’t need to get hurt in inflicting damage to people you dislike.
The BSA typically goes after smaller companies in a geographic region then work their way up the food chain (since the legal battles are daunting unless you have a lot of precedent you carry). Then they look for things like fonts and media files. You don’t have to be found holding illegal files, it is enough if you can’t prove how they were acquired…. a real asset management nightmare. They ‘fine’ you then get you to join their program. The only reasonable defense for a company that can afford it is to refuse the BSA entry to your property and fight any allegations tooth and nail. Get them to prove that some employee is acting according to policy by pirating software – and of course ensure that your company has explicit policies against software piracy and exhibit due diligence.
saar · April 7, 2005 at 18:52
Stuart, good points.
I wonder what will happen if Mr. I.M.Disgruntled downloads some software on P2P and rats to BSA? Who needs to prove what? Tricky stuff if you think of all the scenarios.
Thanks for the comment.