Organisations and individuals using pirated software have been given 60 days to come clean before the Business Software Association of Australia steps in.

The truce will enable companies and end-users to come forward and legitimise illegal software without the threat of legal action or fines. Software companies that are planning to participate in the truce include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Macromedia, Micrografx, Manufacturing and Management Systems, Microsoft and Symantec.

According to BSAA officials the Australian market has one of the highest rates of software piracy in the world - around 32 percent, compared with 25 percent for the US - and it hopes that this amnesty will help to cut that rate.

The BSAA also hopes that through the software truce, which will be advertised via a direct mail and national radio campaign, companies and individuals will become aware of the penalties involved with using software without the appropriate licenses.

The BSAA claims that software piracy is costing Australian distributors and retailers around AU$300 million each year.

A matter of tremendous importance to the BSAA is the Australian Government's softening position on parallel imports. The BSAA sees parallel imports as a significant factor in the prevalence of software piracy in Australia and hopes that a bill about to be put through the House of Representatives will be defeated in the Senate.

The bill in question is the Copyright Amendment (Parallel Importation) bill and it looks to lift restrictions on parallel imports into Australia.

As part of its attempt to have the bill defeated the BSAA recently met with Labor and Democrat senators in Canberra to explain the association's position on the subject and the effect it would have on the Australian economy.

"The Government doesn't fully understand the issues," explained Jim Macnamara, chairman of the BSAA.

John Donovan, managing director of Symantec in Australia and New Zealand as well as the director of the BSAA, stated, "The laws [contained within the bill] regarding parallel importation scare the hell out of me."

The BSAA are concerned with the lifting of restrictions on parallel importation because it will allow end users to purchase software from overseas, which will take sales away from local distributors and retailers.

The proposed bill goes against the findings of a report conducted by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. The report, entitled "Cracking down on copycats: enforcement of copyright in Australia" and released in December last year, identified that "parallel importation may increase the importation of pirated products".

The BSAA is hopeful that the government will implement the recommendations of the report, which suggests harsher punishments -including larger fines and criminal sentencing - are required to act as a deterrent against software piracy.

The software truce will commence from 1 May this year and will finish on 30 June. Companies and individuals wishing to take advantage of the truce will have to obtain a participation number from the BSAA's Web site at www.bsaa.com.au.

Numbers can be obtained from 1 May.

Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive, a CBS Company. All Rights Reserved.
ZDNET is a registered service mark of CBS Interactive. ZDNET Logo is a service mark of CBS Interactive.