Professional pirates - News - Security

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Professional pirates

By Rosina Di Marzo, WebHead
January 31, 2001
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Professional-pirates/0,130061744,120150765,00.htm

As the Internet increasingly becomes the major source of information distribution, concerns about copyright are growing at an exponential rate.

Despite the passing of Digital Agenda amendments to the Copyright Act earlier this year, aimed at giving copyright owners greater control of their works in the digital sphere, software piracy remains a major concern.

The Business Software Association of Australia (BSAA) reports that software theft is increasing and Internet professionals are one of the groups most likely to commit software piracy. Web designers are under intense scrutiny at the moment with a record number currently under investigation by the BSAA.

"We are actively pursuing organisations in a wide range of industry sectors, but at present we have turned our attention squarely upon Web developers, ISPs, graphic designers and multimedia groups," said Chairman of the BSAA, Jim MacNamara. "We have received 30 reports about illegal software users in this market and close to 100 reports about Internet software piracy. Needless to say we currently have a number of those organisations under investigation."

Software piracy occurs through counterfeiting, companies duplicating software in excess of their license entitlement, individuals making copies for friends and colleagues, and electronic distribution on bulletin boards and the Internet.

Most recently the BSAA has settled with multimedia firms based in NSW and Queensland and filed a proof of debt claim for more than AU$100,000 with the liquidator of Catalyst Training Systems.

Under the Copyright Act, infringement of copyright can be a criminal offence, punishable by fines of up to $302,500 for a company and, for individuals, fines of up to $60,500 and imprisonment for up to five years. If companies are suspected of illegal software use a court can grant an order which will allow BSAA representatives to enter the business premises and seize property in accordance with the order.

"We are focused on educating software users and providing assistance to those who want to get legal. However, as many organisations in the multimedia world have already discovered, we will not hesitate to commence litigation where there is strong evidence of unauthorised software use."