>WASHINGTON, March 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the voice of the world’s commercial software industry, today announced a settlement with iCan Benefit Group of Boca Raton, FL. iCan Benefit paid $61,500 to BSA to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec software installed on its computers. As part of the settlement agreement, the company agreed to delete all unlicensed copies of software from its computers, acquire any licenses necessary to become compliant, and commit to implementing stronger software asset management (SAM) practices. BSA was alerted to the unlicensed software use by a confidential report made on its web site www.nopiracy.com.
iCan Benefit was founded five years ago with a mission of providing Americans with medical care through affordable health insurance. The group currently offers a range of products and services including iCan health insurance, media and marketing, telehealth, and forensic claims auditing.
“iCan Benefit has always been committed to the highest level of business standards,” said Steve Tucker, Co-Founder and CEO of the iCan Group. ”While working with BSA to reach this agreement, we’ve focused on enhancing ways of protecting our intellectual property. It’s important for all companies to implement systems that ensure computer software is used in accordance with licensing rules. The settlement agreement did not include any admission of liability.”
“All businesses need to be certain they have adequate licenses for all software installed on their computers,” said Jenny Blank, BSA’s Senior Director of Legal Affairs. ”Proper software asset management helps to maximize a company’s IT investment and ensure the highest level of software security. Unfortunately, the use of unlicensed software is a significant issue that impacts the technology industry and ultimately jeopardizes the spirit of innovation and creativity that is so critical to success.”
DATA
|
2007 Florida Piracy Rate* |
19% |
|
|
Losses to Florida Software Vendors |
$372 million |
|
|
Losses to Florida Distributors/Service Providers |
$966 million |
|
|
Lost State and Local Tax Revenue (FL) |
$154 million |
|
|
2008 US Piracy Rate** |
20% |
|
|
2008 U.S. Losses to Software Industry |
$9.1 Billion |
|
|
vs. 2007 |
-1% |
|
|
Benefits of reducing piracy by 10% age points over 4 years |
32,000 new jobs; $41 billion in economic growth; $7 billion in tax revenue |
|
|
2008 Global Piracy Rate |
41% |
|
|
2008 Worldwide Losses to Software Industry |
$53.0 Billion |
|
|
vs. 2007 |
+3% |
|
|
* 2008 BSA-IDC State Piracy Study |
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**Sixth Annual BSA-IDC Global Software Piracy Study |
||
|
BSA Rewards Program |
Know It, Report It, Reward It |
|
|
Rewards Paid by BSA Since 2008 |
$327,000 |
|
|
Avg. Annual End-User Piracy Reports Received by BSA |
2,419 |
|
|
Website for Reporting Piracy to BSA |
www.nopiracy.com |
|
|
Hotline for Reporting Piracy to BSA |
1-888-NO-PIRACY |
|
|
BSA website |
www.bsa.org |
|
|
Free Self-Audit tools provided by BSA |
www.bsaaudit.com |
|
|
Facebook (keyword) |
Business Software Alliance (BSA) Anti-Piracy |
|
|
Fines for violating copyright law |
$150,000 per title copied |
|
|
If convicted of violating copyright law |
$250,000 per title copied and/or Jail (up to 5 years) |
|
|
Risks of Software Piracy |
Financial: Thousands of dollars in fines and damages |
|
|
Technical: Information security risks; viruses, trojans, malware; Identity theft; Exposure of sensitive data and personal information. |
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|
Legal: Fines, Criminal Prosecution, Risk of being caught by BSA |
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