Today it was reported that Birmingham is the source of 15 percent of piracy reports in the UK, and has been named by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) as “an illegal software hotspot”. BSA, which campaigns against piracy on behalf of the commercial software industry, has started a three month campaign to stamp out software piracy in the city.
Following a somewhat lacklustre response to our last poll – exposing your shocking lack of knowledge and interest in the Carbon Reduction Commitment – we decided to return to the well-trodden ground of software piracy.
Earlier this month BSA and IDC claimed the UK could be missing out on £5.4 billion in new economic activity by 2013 due to software piracy. Reducing software theft in the UK by 10 percent over four years would also create 13,011 jobs and £1.5 billion in new taxes, the report said – with 87 percent of those benefits expected to remain in the local economy.
“The impact of software piracy reaches beyond software publishers, starving local distributors and service providers of spending that creates jobs and generates more tax revenues, boosting the local economy,” said Michala Wardell, chair of the BSA UK Committee.
However, the findings of the report were met with widespread scepticism in the industry, with Andrew Robinson, leader of the UK Pirate Party, describing it as “transparent propaganda”. Research by Microsoft earlier this year found that one in eight British adults use pirated software at work, and more than half believe their employer would consider the practice acceptable.
So we want to know your views. If you were presented with an unlicensed copy of Microsoft Office by your boss, what would you do? (Don’t worry, your responses are completely anonymous).
Do you agree with BSA’s argument that software piracy is robbing the industry of vital funding, and stunting innovation? Would this prompt you to report the pirated software to BSA and let the company suffer the consequences?
Or maybe you’d go a step further and report the incident directly to the police – software piracy is, after all, a criminal offence. But perhaps you think this is an issue for the software manufacturer to deal with themselves, so you would pass on the details quietly and feel satisfied you have done your bit.
On the other hand, there are plenty of civil liberties organisations who argue that copyright laws are outdated and call for further debate on the issues surrounding digital rights. For example, the Free Software Foundation advocates for free software ideals and works for adoption of free software and free media formats.
Maybe you agree that revenues from these essential software tools should not all be ending up in the hands of a few massive tech giants. Maybe you’d prefer to keep quiet about your company’s use of illegal software, or maybe you’d ask them for a copy for yourself. Of course, there’s always the blackmail option…
Let us know what you think by registering your vote in the poll on the left had side of the site. If none of the options apply then let us know what you think in the “other” box, and join the debate.
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I recommend the question should be refined. Given by who? The company IT manager? Your direct supervisor? Your co-worker? Responses could vary slightly between these reasonable interpretations of the question.
This poll is slanted. It provides three "whistleblower" options; three unethical options; and one ingenuous suggestion for seeking out freeware. The number-one option should have been "Campaign that the company pay licensing fees for legitimate copies."
Most unlicensed software exists by accident rather than design. This has become increasingly true due to virtualization, where systems and software is replicated with the intention of licensing due to business demands, but gets overlooked due to a lack of process. However, to a degree it's always been true for desktop software, where departments have to pump out system after system while the accounting process for licensing ends up playing "catch-up".
There are dishonest people out there, but these days most IT groups tend to pay close attention to licensing rather than playing "fast and loose" with it.
Thanks for your suggestion.
You're right, the idea of "accidentally unlicensed" software is a blind spot in our poll design and in that case, simply pointing out the error may be the best response.
We will add the option you suggest - and thanks for suggesting it so quickly.
If necessary at the end of the poll, we will correct for the votes cast before the change but as numbers are low so far, it will probably not be necessary.
Enjoy the poll everybody!
Peter Judge
If someone came up to me and recited Shakespeare, I'd say: "Hey that's "Shakespeare", can I recite it with you? In the case of unknown software, I'd say: What does the software do? If it solved a problem I was trying to solve, I'd say: How much does it cost to use? If they told me it was Open Source and had good support, I'd say go ahead, if it was a cracked license from a bit torrent, I'd say, sorry, we need to pay for that license
In the past I've worked for unscrupulous employers who knew that they were in violation of various EULAs. Lobbying these employers was fruitless. They had to be forced into compliance with the EULAs by upgrading to new versions of the software that was more difficult to install without the proper license keys. These two previous employers acted as if they were ENTITLED to make a profit, hence the use of unlicensed software. Their excuse was that they were merely trying to control their costs. One such cost being buying legal copies of ALL the software they were using to make money. They attempted to justified their actions by saying that the software was too expensive and that it wasn't being used by "everyone" at the same time. Additionally these employers did everything possible to maintain their lifestyles, such as owning and driving very expensive exotic autos all the while complaining about the costs of doing business.
You're most welcome, and may I say that it's a pleasure to see someone respond so quickly - most commentary on polls I've seen have been ignored!
I probably reacted rather strongly given my career as an IT leader, but I've fought the unlicensed software battle several times (and won). It can be a tough fight when my fellow executives see how much money the company actually owes. For what it's worth (as advice to others out there, perhaps), I make determining the status of software licensing my first priority when I join a firm. It's usually a lot easier to address these unexpected expenses (if they exist!) during the so-called "honeymoon" period.
I apologize for using "ingenuous" as an adjective. It was - in retrospect - uncalled for. It's simply that I've had to fight suggestions of using "freeware" in a commercial setting many times. While it's understandable for executives to want to find the most fiscally conservative option to solve their problems, it ceases to be *their* problem and becomes *mine* as soon as the company becomes dependent on products with limited or no support.