Business Software Alliance "Grace Period" 490
The BSA is running (until January 31) a "Grace Period" for "voluntary compliance" in the cities of San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Houston,Norfolk/Richmond, Nashville, Indianapolis, Bozeman, and Orlando. Small businesses recieve a card in the mail, having been assigned a tracking number, so you know you're in their files. In previous press releases they state that they send out up to 700,000 of these cards simultaneously. Scanning their reported settlement victories, they then seem to pick 2-4 business to destroy. If the businesses don't go along, the BSA hires the Federal Marshals as mercenaries to help ensure compliance with their extortion. Microsoft, unsurprisngly, is a big supporter of this and pushes it to vendors as a chance to strengthen customer relations. (this is a powerpoint document, but thankfully you can also have it: translated via google). CD: Here is a link to the press release on this matter.
How is it "extortion" to enforce the law? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do people think that illegally copying software is a right? If you don't want to pay for software, use open-source software instead. Isn't that why we're all here -- to promote open source software solutions? Why are we hell bent on also trying to legitamize bootlegged software, when doing so does nothing but make "free software advocates" look like a bunch of freeloaders?
I wish people would understand that free software is exactly the opposite of freeloading -- it's giving your work away for the public good. Articles like this one put me in the same group of people that are on the side of the illegal theft of intellectual property that someone has chosen not to make public. It's someone else's right to ask me to pay for software, just as it's my right to give it away for free.
Go write free software. Go use free software. Go evangelize free software. But please, don't be so fucking petty as to complain about someone enforcing the fact that their software isn't free.
Tone excuses illegal copying (Score:5, Insightful)
Or in other words making people pay what they agreed to pay when they started using the software. Its not like they didn't have a choice.
Emotive words like "mercenaries" and "extortion" don't help, any more than words like "piracy" and "software theft".
Meantime this is an excellent time to stop preaching to the choir and start telling those businesses about open source software. Issue press releases. Get interviewed by radio and TV.
Paul.
Guilty until proven innocent? (Score:4, Insightful)
Do these BSA guys realise what they are doing? Scaring off their customers? Being extremely arrogant and intrusive? What about that old adage of your customer being the king?
I guess _this_ is one of the best reasons for switching away from vendors that are members of the BSA: None of those license troubles with free software. None of those expensive audits to do (is that included in those MS TCO calculations?). None of those guilt assumptions. No insecurity.
Nice spin Slashdot.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, thanks for that nicely impartial journalist attitude there. Its amazing what a simple line can do to affect the inflection of a story.
Instead, how about..
'the BSA hires Federal Marshals to ensure the hard work and effort by its members is not stolen by parasitic scum who steal like common thieves.'
I develop software for a small company. I'm quite lucky to be where I am now, doing what I want to. I also work on OSS as a hobby.. (Such as a perl port of PG+ [ewtoo.org] that runs Uberworld [telnet].) Trust me, if ever I meet someone offering me a 'warez' copy of something I wrote I certianly won't be giving them a big cheery grin..
Re:How is it "extortion" to enforce the law? (Score:5, Insightful)
Methods, means and policy (Score:4, Insightful)
Under current copyright and contract law, BSA is free to represent its members and do what's described in this article.
However, I find its methods too severe and too aggressive. BSA should consider helping the companies to comply with licenses rather than scaring them and send in the police. If BSA developed a good license administration tool and released it under the GNU GPL or any open source license with the source code, I think many companies would improve in their license compliance.
Some companies will steal anything they can, but most companies are serious and should not be treated as criminals. Doing a good license audit today is very costly and hard to administer for a small or medium sized company. BSA should treat the potential costumers of its members with respect and appreciate this problem. Developing an administrative solution and perhaps a license crawling spider - with very open code - is a much better way of helping the companies than by using cease-and-desist-letters.
Hence, BSA should consider a different and more customer friendly policy. We, the public, should consider an evalutation of the copyright system [newsforge.com] for computer programs at large.
Regards
Mikael
I am 100% supportive of this... (Score:5, Insightful)
(moderators: this is not a troll.)
The harder the BSA come down on companies like a ton of bricks, the more attractive open source alternatives will be.
The microsoft licensing schemes are so convoluted that even if you buy stuff from legit resellers bundled with your PCs, you still may be technically in violation of m$ licensing, depending on how your software is being used.
It's almost impossible for large corporations to be 100% sure of total compliance, even if all their software is purchased legitimately. And the BSA knows this. It's exactly like the mafia's "protection" racket.
Fortunately corporations now have a legit means of escape. Replace NT servers with Linux ones. The cost of switching to Linux might be high, but often the cost of having to "get compliant" is higher. And Linux is a one time cost, whereas you can be assured the BSA will be knocking on your door regularly if they think they can get away with it.
So I say bring on the BSA gestapo! They will be inadvertently helping promote open source alternatives, it's better promotion than Linux could ever buy (though we can exploit the situation if we choose
RIAA (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How is it "extortion" to enforce the law? (Score:5, Insightful)
Situation 1 - The police come to your house with a warrant, because you are a suspect in a crime, and they follow rules of search and seizure as mandated by the constitution.
Situation 2 - Someone from a non-profit organization that you've never heard of (which happens to be a front for a certain Software Company, which has been found in a court of law to illegally maintain its monopoly on the software industry) comes to your house and demands to see what you have installed on your computer.
The first situation is called "enforcing the law". I don't know what you would call the second situation, but under some circumstances it might be "extortion".
Re:Umm, who cares? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:I am 100% supportive of this... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm more scared about this personally. These companies, particularly Microsoft, are so well entrenched that they can do this. It means that they have the majority of companies by the balls, and they can do what they will to them. Sure, Free stuff will seem attractive, but the bottom line is that they will want to get the maximum value out of their investment. Scary.
Re:forced audit? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm speaking here as someone who, a couple years ago, was working in the IS department of a company which was hit by one of these threatening letters.
Generally, they instruct the target company to run their auditing software to "prove" that they are in compliance with all software licenses on site. Such letters of instruction usually include a threat of legal action if the company does not comply. The threat is their standard operating procedure - it doesn't matter if you are 100% legal.
Since most companies would rather not pay to defend against a frivolous lawsuit, or risk an oversight of some software than Joe Employee may have installed, they end up performing the audit. The BSA doesn't offer any compensation for IS hours lost due to this audit.
They also arrange penalties for any discovered "violations". Some of these can quickly get out of hand. For example, in my case, a copy of WordPerfect 5.1 (yes, in 1997!) was lying around on a Netware server which 350 people had access to. Nobody even knew it was there. Guess how many times that violation stacked up, even though no one was using the software.
Although Slashdot's writeup sounds biased, it really IS extortion taking place.
- SEAL
Extortion? (Score:3, Insightful)
Suddenly, by announcing a grace period for these criminals, we are extortionists? Since when did extortion include benevolence?
The legal definition of extortion is: the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right. 18 U.S.C. S 1951(b)(2).
The key words here are wrongful use. Is it wrong, when someone has stolen something from you, to offer them a conditional amnesty? You steal from me, and not some hypothetic company, and I'll do everything I can to see you put in jail.
Calling this extortion is akin to the robbery victim who pleads on the news for the return of his wallet - no questions asked - and all will be forgiven: is the victim then the extortionist?
I note that Borland, the developers of Kylix, is a member of the BSA. Are they evil for expecting people to pay for some of their products? Or, because Microsoft is also a member, does that mean that OF COURSE it is extortion, and OF COURSE the federal marshals are mercenaries? Or will the federal marshals be exempted when they are protecting your ass on an airliner?
Is that the equation? Federal Marshals On Airlines = Good Guys, Federal Marshals Helping Microsoft/the BSA = Bad Guys? And if the BSA are really extortionists, does that make the marshals guilty of aiding and abetting?
What is it like? (Score:3, Insightful)
If you were a struggling proprietary commercial software developer would you join the BSA? Would you want to be associated with the immoral wealthiest companies and individuals in its ranks?
I think a better tactic to use to keep the majority of your user group in the paying customer category is to make your product worth buying and to make your product more valuable when it is purchased from you. By virtue of its (limited) success RedHat seems to be a company that exemplifies this tactic since its product is available free almost everywhere but people and companies still buy its products and it is very nearly profitable. A proprietary software developer should have no problem finding ways to make its product more attractive to buy than to copy, since it doesn't have the handicap of selling Free software.
Now hold on a minute... (Score:4, Insightful)
People will always find some excuse for piracy, but until someone is pirating YOUR software, i really dont think you have any right to excuse yourself. It's theft of intellectual property. Don't do it, even if you have philosophical problems with Microsoft.
Commercial Break.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Scene: People working at PCs in Office
Suddenly the door bursts open and in come a group of lawyers accompanied by Federal Marshals
Lawyer: "Business Software Alliance! We're here to check all your software licences. If you are running illegal software you may be fined thousands of ponds and go to jail for 5 years. Here's our search warrant"
Manager: (smug grin) "Go ahead - we're all running Linux!"
Exit BSA....
Re:Fuck you, slashdot. (Score:5, Insightful)
Jesus christ, they aren't sending Federal Marshalls storming into a business for no reason. That could not happen without some sort of precident. I don't believe that the BSA has ever done this and not uncovered mountains of software license violations.
Did you read in the article that the BSA were sending like 700.000 of these threats at a time?
Obviously, all the evidence they need for sending someone a letter is that they run a business.
OK, now suppose your business has a clear policy of never using pirated software. So what can you do?
1. You run the self-audit software. It is closed-source spyware, you have no idea what it will report, and you cannot expect any compensation if it breaks your mission-critical machine. This is an ugly option and there is no good reason why a honest businessman should be subjected to it. And nobody, guilty or innocent, would subject themselves to this voluntarily.
2. You "refuse to cooperate". Then you will get a visit from law enforcement, probably greatly disrupting your operation. Moreover, if they find anything wrong - your sysadmin made a mistake, or some stupid employee downloaded a serial number for Winzip - then you will have to pay for the exercise. Even if everything is actually perfect, something may be construed against you and you will face further expenses defending yourself.
Now tell me again that this is only fair.
Re:Fuck you, slashdot. (Score:2, Insightful)
?Acually there is a fairly obvious situation where this would be perfectly "legal" That is where the company in question has the relevent licences.
Re:Guilty until proven innocent? (Score:3, Insightful)
Wrong. A company might well have 2137 legal copies of a software, plus 5 it has no license for (either intentionally or inadvertedly).
For the 2137 legal copies, it would be a customer.
For the 5 illegal ones, it would be a pirate.
So yes, somebody can be both your customer and a pirate.
Yes, they are thieving scum. (Score:4, Insightful)
Everyone had the games. They weren't even very expensive, just a couple of quid but 9 out of 10 copies were pirated.
Re:Extortion? (Score:4, Insightful)
About counter ads (Score:5, Insightful)
They are fools if they don't use MS marketing when they can.
Re:How is it "extortion" to enforce the law? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why do trolls (BSA included) assume we've been stealing software?
HTH. HAND.
Re:Tone excuses illegal copying (Score:2, Insightful)
That doesn't mean these guys can just walk in and raid your office however they see fit. I don't let the cops in without a warrant, so I wouldn't let the BSA in without a cop AND a warrant. They have no reasonable proof that I _MAY_ be using unlicensed software, so in theory they _SHOULD_ have no way of getting a search warrant. Anonymous tips on their web site don't count as 'reasonable proof', because no one can be held accountable. What they are doing is cooperative fraud, teaming with the megawhores of software. If at least they stood up for the small guys (like all the cheap fucks who used cracks and keygens on my old doorgames), then maybe I could find some sympathy for their extortionary tactics, but they don't and I won't.
Re:How is it "extortion" to enforce the law? (Score:5, Insightful)
"We think you have stolen merchandise in your home. We're going to search it, and if you don't have a receipt for everything here, we're going to assume it's stolen, so you'll have to pay for it again, plus pay penalties. And remember, the proof is on you."
Re:Extortion? (Score:4, Insightful)
How do you just "know" this and how do you know who much or what the extent is? How do you know WHO is doing it and to what extent? Are you going to try to use averages to justify searching everyone?
I'll do everything I can to see you put in jail.
Including searching the business before even knowing that they are running your software?
So how do you know what companies are running your software? Should you just assume every business is and then make them prove they are not?
You are innocent until proven guilty in the US. You can not search without proable cause. You do not get probable cause because you are a business that some company targets software at. Even if past experierence shows 80% of companies searched had some fubar license issues does not give justification to search more. It plainly shows that 20% of your "probable cause" claims are completely false.
Imagine a MLA (Media License Assoc.) Imagine getting a letter in the mail stating a MLA rep will be by your house later in the week to examine ALL of your video tapes, audio cassettes, CD's, players, cable boxes, Macrovision removers, computer HD's, etc for unauthorized media. Would you let him in? After all, they got an anonymous tip stating you copied a Shrek DVD onto VHS so the kids could watch it in the van but they left it playing in the family room when they went for a trip in the van. I bet there is a better chance a consumer would have some form of illegal media then a business has illegal software. Does this simple fact give probable cause to search everyones house?
Re:Extortion? (Score:5, Insightful)
"We know that we are being illegally deprived of millions of dollars annually..."
Wrong. You are guilty of assuming that the people who pirate software would otherwise pay your company for that software. I can guarantee you that the guy who steals cars would not otherwise pay GM, Ford, Toyota, etc. the value of those cars. The millions that you and the BSA and others like to flaunt as damages or deprivations are a bunch of crap, only touted to try to win sympathy for a bastard cause.
Next:
"The key words here are wrongful use. Is it wrong, when someone has stolen something from you, to offer them a conditional amnesty?"
Uh, yes. It is wrong. It is indicative of the fact that the BSA knows that what they're doing does constitute extortion under any legal or other definition of the term. The BSA has no legitimate power of their own. None. Zilch. Nada. They are not a law enforcement agency. Tbey are not a court of law. The only thing they are is a kangaroo court full of fools. When they attempt to use their illegitimate power to threaten me, "under color of official right," they commit extortion. Plain and simple. They have no right to interfere in any matter pertaining to me or my business. I do not have any contract with the BSA whereby I grant them license to extort my money/property. Perhaps they would like it if I investigated them for something animal poaching. I have no right to do so, nor any proof that they are actually illegally killing animals, but I'll surely grant them amnesty (conditionally, of course) if they will pay me a few hundred thousand dollars!
And finally:
"Calling this extortion is akin to the robbery victim who pleads on the news for the return of his wallet - no questions asked - and all will be forgiven: is the victim then the extortionist?"
There's a big difference. A robbery victim can usually offer pretty good evidence that he/she has actually been deprived of property. The BSA cannot. Instead, the BSA sends out hundreds of thousands of notices telling people/businesses that they are probably guilty of stealing, but they can be forgiven -provided they are willing to break out the checkbook. Isn't that what Jim Baker and the other televangelists used to do -- selling forgiveness? To further your analogy, the BSA is not pleading on the news for the return of their property. Rather, what the BSA is doing would be akin to rounding up a group of thousands of potential suspects, even though only a few may have actually committed the robbery, and telling them all that they could purchase amnesty for the low low price of $$$bling-bling. It doesn't mattter that the overwhelming majority are not guilty. All that matters to the BSA is that they collect enough money to remain solvent until next year's extortions begin. The BSA acts as though you are guilty until proven innocent, there's no way are you gonna sell me that vaporware.
Before You Go Defending the BSA... (Score:1, Insightful)
But before you go defending the BSA's actions, particularly with respect to enforcing Microsoft's "rights," maybe you best take a look at Overseas Invasion [mojones.com]. It's an old article (1997 or 1998, I think), but one is inclined to wonder if this is still going on. (Never mind that it shouldn't have been happening in the first place!)
I once thought the BSA was a Good Thing. But after reading that article many years ago, the BSA forever lost any credibility in my eyes!
FWIW.
Boosting 1Q revenue in a soft economy (Score:4, Insightful)
By sending these cards out they'll get extra revenue they might not have gotten. It's just like the middle ages -- when the king's coffers were low, he sent his soldiers to the villages to collect extra tax.
Re:Fuck you, slashdot. (Score:4, Insightful)
Jesus christ, they aren't sending Federal Marshalls storming into a business for no reason. That could not happen without some sort of precident. I don't believe that the BSA has ever done this and not uncovered mountains of software license violations.
Actually, they are. The last time this ran, someone recounted how the BSA raided their company (with federal marshalls), shut it down for 3 days, destroyed several Sun workstations while trying to run their software on them and then tried to walk away. Oh, and they didn't actually find anything.
Re:How is it "extortion" to enforce the law? (Score:3, Insightful)
"We think you have stolen merchandise in your home. You're going to hire or pay people to generate a list of all of the items in your home, and if you don't have a receipt for everything here, we're going to assume it's stolen, so you'll have to pay for it again, plus pay penalties. We won't compensate you for the search."
Re:How is it "extortion" to enforce the law? (Score:2, Insightful)
Imagine if I write a piece of software, release it under a proprietary license and then decide I can march into anyone's house to make sure they're only using as many licenses as they've bought? Imagine I did that to you... you'd probably sock me in the face, and if you didn't I'd honestly wonder why.
While I'm in total agreement with you - the answer to this kind of corporate thugism is to create alternatives vis-a-vis free software - I think this community is totally in the right for crying foul over what is essentially vigilante action by a software cartel. This should be police activity, acted upon only under warrant, and not organized by private citizens.
extortion and revenge (Score:2, Insightful)
b/ any company receiving such a card should get the company lawyer to write back pointing out the legal consequences of libel.
c/ I wonder if Microsoft or Adobe could satisfy the BSA audit?
Ends justify the means? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why?
In short, BSA tactics turn member companies' customers into adversaries, and scare said customers into giving them money rather than go through the time and trouble to "prove" (at the customers' own time and expense!!!) they own all their software. It sure sounds like extortion to me! In any case, I dare someone to argue that threatening to sue ALL your customers and cause them added expenses, even if they did nothing wrong, is a good way to develop a customer relationship!
The software makers have the right... (Score:2, Insightful)
Glad to see the statement in an earlier posting that the US Marshals require a court order before they'll act. Some people here and elsewhere like to be childish and think that the Marshals are just hired thugs for M$. Not true. The Marshals are doing the job of enforcing laws that have been on the books for decades and people understand at least the basic idea of those laws.
Anyone who pirate software is committing a crime; and they should be ready to pay the consequences. It's more likely that a business will be caught than an individual or household. That doesn't make piracy any less wrong.
Re:Guilty until proven innocent? (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, great. Stop giving Rosen and Valenti ideas.