Why the software police is facing opposition

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) wants to crackdown on software piracy and it has come up with a cunning new plan. Or so it thinks.

IT departments across the UK will soon be asked to fill out the BSA's '2001 Software Audit', outlining what software they use and confirming number of licences held. Return it by 30 November, the Alliance says before warning recipients to "treat it as seriously as a tax return".

The truth is the BSA's approach is flawed and comparisons with tax returns utterly bogus.

The impression given is that this audit is a statutory process. 'Comply or face the consequences' is the implication.

As law firm, DLA, rightly pointed out earlier today the BSA has no such jurisdiction. It is no more than a private body acting in the interests of its members who include Adobe, Corel, Symantec and Microsoft. Those interests, unsurprisingly, include vigorously seeking to protect intellectual property rights.

Nothing wrong with that but IT professionals should be aware that there is no obligation to comply and the BSA lacks the authority to enforce the law. In short, the BSA is not the Inland Revenue of the software world.

What's more, anyone who does decide to use this audit to come clean over unlicensed software has no guarantee of amnesty.

One final thought. Rather than spend so much time and energy hunting down software pirates, the BSA - or the individual companies it represents - would be better advised to work with IT directors (a law-abiding bunch) to develop software payment solutions that suit - and reward - loyal customers.