BSA Software Piracy Fight Smacks of RIAA Crackdown 282
Ron Paul Dennis Kucinich writes "A Business Software Alliance raid on musical-instrument maker Ernie Ball Inc. cost the company $90,000 in a settlement. Soon after, Microsoft sent other businesses in the region around Ball's a flyer offering discounts on software licenses, along with a reminder not to wind up like Ernie Ball. Enraged, CEO Sterling Ball vowed never to use Microsoft software again, even if 'we have to buy 10,000 abacuses.' Similar BSA raids around the country have been provoking strong reactions from put-upon business owners, echoing similar reactions to music-lovers targeted by the RIAA."
10,000 Abacuses? (Score:3, Insightful)
Great news (Score:4, Insightful)
Many people just download photoshop because that's what they know. If they have to pay for it, there will be a HUGE shift to GIMP. And that's even more true with Microsoft stuff, at least in Spain. I know very few people who have bought a copy of Windows (not counting what came with the computer). But it's easy to pirate, so they go for it. If they faced fines of 1000 euro for it (or had to pay 300 to buy it in the first place), a lot of people would consider linux. Now, both are free (in practice), so price is not a problem when choosing. Factor that in, and things look very different.
So, good news, people will start using what they need, and not the professional (and expensive) tool for home stuff. And that usually means open source.
Seriously though (Score:3, Insightful)
The fact is, they willingly copied software and got caught and they paid the consequences. Although it seems based on the article it was only 8% unauthorised, they only changed over when they were caught, if they were really supportive of open source they would of moved off their propriety systems long ago.
I work in IT, and I pay for software that I use, if I can't afford it I find something else - its no excuse to copy it.
Nothing to see here move along.
They've got the news outlets in on it too... (Score:3, Insightful)
AutoCad Substitute? (Score:3, Insightful)
Now my needs are bit modest, so I get by with SketchUp, and Alibre, (although my versions are not free, they do offer free versions), but a major Engineering company might have a rough time finding an easy-to-use substitute.
Not so simple. (Score:4, Insightful)
"The BSA considers software pirated if a company can't produce a receipt for it, no matter how long ago it was purchased. Software boxes or certificates of authenticity are no help, because the BSA argues the software could have been obtained from an illegitimate source."
Does that mean even if you have Windows XP and MS Office certs stuck on the PC with a 1:1 cert:install mapping it doesn't count? What idiocy is that? I know lots of businesses will have difficulty retaining receipts and records longer than a few years. Might be in a box somewhere but nobody left in the company will know about it.
Whether the PC was stolen or not, if the cert+ key is real Microsoft etc already have got paid for it.
It could even be a gift, believe me people do donate software. I'm sure many churches and charitable organisations get such stuff. You don't always get receipts for that.
Thing is the BSA might have a different agenda from the companies it represents.
I heard the Microsoft boss in my country handled piracy cases differently - he told off his staff who apparently were going around taking people to court etc. Basically his opinion was these people were happy users of Microsoft software, all his staff needed to do was to convince them to license. Which shouldn't be too hard - "Hi, would you like to pay the $$$$$ per infringing copy (plus bosses risk imprisonment) or $$$ per licensed copy?".
Instant sale. Don't even need to send them any fancy media or boxes. Don't even need to send people to help install and configure the software - they've already done all that work themselves.
Only send in the thugs if they refuse to license after you find out they are noncompliant.
Re:The solution is simple (Score:4, Insightful)
Then there's the per device and per user licencing.
It'd be easy to keep track of if the only licencing model out there was "one key, one system" but in order to appease big businesses there's volume licencing, and that spread out into other different models. The fact that there are businesses out there who exist simply to keep track of licences says there's something dreadfully wrong with the current system.
Re:10,000 abacuses? How about 10,000 Linux install (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The solution is simple - Not really (Score:2, Insightful)
GPL restricts distribution only (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:No sympathy for Ball. (Score:2, Insightful)
You have just admitted to copyright infringement by violating license terms. Does your high horse give you enough clearance to be heard over the din of others turning themselves in?
You are in exactly the same gray area the article talks about. I think I'll report you to the BSA and see what kind of reward I can collect out of your hide.
Food for thought?
Familiar business model... (Score:2, Insightful)