Report Suspected Illegal Software Confidentially. Up To $200k Rew

[Blah]

BSA Issues First Rewards for Software Piracy Leads

Washington, D.C., (July 11, 2006) ?The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a watchdog group representing the nation?s leading software manufacturers, today announced its first three Rewards Program payments. The BSA Rewards Program offers incentives for individuals reporting companies and organizations involved in software piracy. Three individuals received a combined total of $15,500 after their respective qualifying reports of software piracy led to piracy investigations and settlements.?The success of BSA?s Rewards Program is an exciting step forward in the fight against software piracy,? said Jenny Blank, BSA?s director of enforcement. ?With the extra incentive the program provides, more and more people are doing the right thing and confidentially reporting software piracy. However, even with this important step, there is still much to be done, and BSA will continue to be at the forefront of the battle to reduce software theft.?Since launching the Rewards Program in the United States last fall, BSA has received nearly 2,000 leads nationwide. The Rewards Program encourages individuals with detailed information about software piracy to come forward and report infringements in their current or former workplaces. Qualifying reports may be eligible for rewards of up to $200,000. Confidential reports can be made by visiting www.nopiracy.com or by calling 1-888 NO PIRACY.All three reward recipients reported their employers after leaving their jobs.  ?I warned management that there were serious consequences to software piracy, but they didn?t want to fix the problem ? they didn?t think they?d get caught,? said one of the reward recipients, a former IT support employee for the company.  Another recipient reported that the piracy was taking place at multiple locations of her former employer.  ?Piracy was taking place with upper management?s knowledge, and that?s just not right,? said the former customer service representative.After receiving the piracy reports, BSA initiated investigations and contacted the companies.  Settlements were ultimately reached with all three, including settlement payments and commitments to bring all software installations into licensing compliance.?It?s not fair that some companies don?t pay for the software they use,? said another reward recipient.An independent study* shows that 21 percent of software in the United States is unlicensed. In 2005, the United States lost $6.9 billion as a result of software piracy.Software piracy is against the law. It can result in fines of up to $150,000 for each software title copied and increases the risk for security and technical complications.*Global Software Piracy Study, conducted by IDC for the Business Software Alliance, May 2006.http://www.bsa.org/usa/press/newsreleases/BSA-Rewards-Program.cfmThirty-five percent of the software installed on personal computers world wide in 2006 was illegal.http://www.bsa.org/globalhome.cfm

i hate snitches....

[Guest mcp2]

Lets stab them with picthforks and burn them on a stick.

[Fungus]

I hate backstabbers too, if they backstab someone else, they'll backstab you too. Honorless fools...

[Sigma]

snitching is not the way to deal with this