Software Asset Management (SAM) Blog

An Australian engineering firm has been fined AU $76,000 for mis-using software from Autodesk. According to reports, the engineering firm had failed to co-operate with Autodesk after the vendor suspected it was not adhering to licensing conditions around its design software. The penalty was set by the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia on 19th January 2009.

The Business Software Alliance has announced a six-figure settlement with a ‘northern-based travel company’ that was allegedly using unlicensed copies of Microsoft SQL, Visio, Project, Office and Windows Server.

In addition to the settlement, the company has had to purchase legal versions of business critical software, which has resulted in a further cost of more than £100,000.

The BSA also released details of three other smaller cases in the UK, plus a host of fines raised against firms in North America. One of the UK firms being pursued by the BSA refused to undertake a software audit and is now facing a court hearing, which could see them forced to hand over information and pay legal costs.

The latest news from the BSA follows a string of recent cases, showing that 2008 really is the year of the software audit. Our advice - put yourself in the driving seat and reconcile your own licensing position before a vendor or watchdog does it for you!

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has fined six US companies for using unlicensed software.  Three financial services firms have paid the industry watchdog nearly half a million dollars between them.   Three more firms, all based in the New York area, were also caught using illegal software, and have paid a further $269,000 in fines.

As part of the settlement, all six firms have had to promise to improve their software management processes in order to avoid future mis-use.

Microsoft UK recently launch their Microsoft Software Asset Management Program, details for which can be found here.

It is a structured approach to implementing software asset managment with the assistance of on of Microsoft’s approved SAM Partners, a list of which can be also be found on their site.

At the end of the process the customer will get a certificate which will be valid for 12 months recognizing they have gone through the program and established their base line compliance position and should not expect to be contacted to undertake a Microsoft led audit over the next 12 months.

Be warned that any short fall of licences identified by this process will have to be addressed.