The Business Software Alliance (BSA), which acts on behalf of several software manufacturers in the protection of their copyright and licensing rights, has successfully brought action against Port Elizabeth-based commercial entity, Ed-U-Options Group.
The group has agreed to pay over R27 000 in damages to the BSA for the unlicensed use of one of its member`s software. This is the sixth company to pay penalties to the BSA in the last two months.
"Organisations must realise that the legal risks and the penalties for illegally using software are large, not to mention that the belief that pirated software saves money is a complete misconception," says BSA chairman, Andrew Lindstr"om.
"Not only can companies using pirated software not request technical support from software publishers, but in addition, unauthorised software often contains viruses with the potential to damage individual computers, or an entire network."
He says these types of problems not only cost companies a tremendous amount of time and money to fix, but it still leaves them running the risk of paying heavy fines if caught using illegal software.
"The best and most cost-effective way to avoid these risks is to ensure your organisation`s software is genuine and correctly licensed."
He says the BSA offers assistance on its Web site to users who are in doubt about the legality of their software, as well as a confidential helpline.
"If you are in doubt about your software`s legality, our advice would be for you to conduct an audit of your organisation`s software immediately and contact the relevant suppliers to enquire about additional licences," says Lindstr"om.
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