The reader contacted ZDNet Australia in response to yesterday's story about the Business Software Association of Australia (BSAA) settling out of court with a company over alleged illegal use of software.
The reader, who describes the BSAA as "the IT version of Ambulance chasers", alleged that the company he worked for didn't even have any software from the companies the BSAA represents. "Yet they sent us the letter and demanded we comply, or be threaten[ed] with legal action," the reader said. -Repeated letters were sent but we just ignored them."
Jim Macnamara, chairman of the BSAA, defended the industry body's approach. -If he's received a warning letter, which is a common one, it means that someone has reported him to the BSAA for allegedly using illegal software," Macnamara said.
According to Macnamara, the BSAA had a number of avenues to pursue when it received complaints. He said if it received really serious allegations, which were supported by evidence, it would file legal action in the Federal Court.
If the complaint was not as serious, or there was insufficient evidence, Macnamara said the BSAA would write to the company requesting it conduct a software audit.
Macnamara confirmed the ZDNet Australia reader's assertion that legally a company could ignore the BSAA's letter. However, he added that the BSAA reserved the right to go to a higher level if it believed that an allegation was serious enough. This could include further investigation or legal action, he said.
-[We're] giving them opportunity to give us evidence it's not true or assurances they've solved the problem," he said. -[If] the company doesn't reply what they're doing is refusing to cooperate."
According to Macnamara, the BSAA received replies from 90 percent of businesses it writes to and he estimates that it sends anywhere between 20 and 100 letters to businesses each month, depending upon the volume of complaints.
The complaints come from a variety of sources, including former employees, IT consultants and support technicians, and sometimes dealers who have sold a business hardware.
Macnamara said generally the BSAA would send a business one letter, although sometimes a second letter would be sent from its lawyers.
He added that the BSAA looked at all complaints, however would only commence further investigation or court action against complaints about software piracy of its member companies.
