Piracy crackdown: Aussie firms stung for Microsoft, Adobe misuse

BSA The Software Alliance has settled three cases of unlicensed software use across three Australian states totalling $58,000.

The businesses were using illegal copies of Adobe, Autodesk and Microsoft software.

Victoria-based project home builder Meldan, which trades as Granvue Homes, has paid $35,000 in damages for the use of unlicensed product keys for Adobe Acrobat, Autodesk AutoCAD and Microsoft Office software.

Victoria had a record number of settlements in 2014 and 2015, which indicates an increase in Victorian business accountability in 2016 for software compliance, according to BSA. Meldan's settlement was the first registered this year in Victoria.

CRN has previously reported that the building and manufacturing sectors were the top offenders when it came to the use of pirated software in Australia.

Brisbane-based architectural model maker Sosan paid $18,000 in damages after being caught using Autodesk Building Design Suite in excess of their license entitlements. The company has also purchased new licenses to achieve compliance with the software usage terms.

R King Enterprises, a South-Australia-based wholesaler of automotive products trading as Mocare, was found to be using an illegal copy of Microsoft Server software. The company paid $5000 in damages and is in the process of purchasing legitimate licenses of the software.

All three businesses agreed to undertake regular software audits to be reported back to The Software Alliance.

BSA senior director Asia-Pacific Tarun Sawney highlighted that businesses have a lot to lose when using illegal software.  

"Unlicensed software not only compromises security and puts customer information at risk, it can also result in financial losses for the business, as information can be intercepted and repurposed for others financial gain. Not to mention the impact to the reputation of the organisation, business and its employees during any legal proceedings," Tarun said.

Two Microsoft Australia resellers recently had to pay the vendor more than $250,000 over copyright infringement, related to the sale of unauthorised copies of Windows 7.

In May, a study conducted by BSA and IDC revealed that 20 percent of Australian computer users were running pirated software on their machines.

BSA continues to offer a $20,000 reward to individuals disclosing accurate information on the use of unlicensed software.

Adobe, Apple, CA, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and Symantec are some of the members of BSA.