Retail is the largest user of illegal software – Computable

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Companies in the retail sector and business service in 2014 made the most use of illegal software. This is the finding of the BSA. However, the use of pirated software can lead to heavy fines and, therefore, the BSA launched a campaign to help Dutch SMEs to better manage its licenses

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Based on research, the BSA found that 25 percent of companies in the retail sector and 18 percent of companies in the business services using unlicensed software. Thus these two sectors are the largest users of pirated software. In third place we find the construction sector by 15 percent

Herr Georg Leben, Senior Director Compliance & amp.; external affairs EMEA at the BSA, notes that there are still many misconceptions exist between companies and their suppliers. “Although complete infrastructures are being completed, there are no or unclear agreements on the use of software,” he explains. “We also see that many companies are not familiar with the terms of use. Many companies think that every employee only needs its own license when the software is used simultaneously. However, this depends on the license, which in many cases on the number of devices instead of the number of users. Companies often use not even aware unlicensed software. Yet it is crucial for them to keep the software licenses in the eye, to avoid costly consequences.

These consequences can be high in cost, including an analysis of the settlements in 2014 by BSA was taken in the Netherlands. The highest settlement amounted to 140,000 euros. This was still the only fee that had to pay the company for illegal software use. The cost of purchasing the appropriate licenses came on top of that

Fact or Fiction campaign

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According to the BSA, Dutch companies therefore more pay attention to their software licenses in order to avoid these high costs. To the companies to advise and assist, they started the ‘Fact or Fiction’ campaign. “In this new campaign, we are trying to contradict myths surrounding enterprise and businesses aware of the use of unlicensed software,” explains Herr Leben. The aim is to increase compliance so that potential risks, such as malware, can be avoided.

BSA offers organizations within the campaign tips in the form of e-books and four webinars on cyber security and non-compliance the law surrounding software licenses

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