A Scottish council and a global asset management company are facing a high court action for using illegal software.
The case highlights the fact that local government organisations are particularly at risk of buying illegal software as they struggle to secure the most competitive deal for IT systems, according to the British Software Alliance (BSA).
The BSA has served papers on Clackmannanshire Council and Frazier International Group for using unlicensed software. Both organisations now have 21 days to respond to the charges before the case begins its progress through the courts.
Mike Newton, BSA programme manager, said, "Firms that don't have enough user licences or that make illegal copies of software will run an ever-increasing risk of legal action. The damage to a business can be huge, with defence or settlement of legal cases costing over Ã,£100,000."
Newton said that government organisations are especially vulnerable to counterfeiters as they are under pressure to secure the lowest deal because of a rigorous tendering process. "They work hard to secure the lowest bids, but in many cases the software supplied is counterfeit," he said.
However, Bob Griffith, national secretary for the Society of Information Technology Management denied that the tendering process made councils more vulnerable. "In a lot of cases, councils have unwittingly been sold illegal software as fully licensed product through reputable dealers," he said. "They should guard against this by setting up monitoring software from organisations like the Federation Against Software Theft."
Julia Phillpot, antipiracy manager for BSA-member Microsoft, said that people need to be cautious about what they are buying and from whom. "They need to verify sales addresses, return policies and confirm pricing structures if they want to be sure."
