SoftwareManagers.org - copyright

Beyond Bizarre

2008-03-04T01:37:57Z

Keep your music volume down in public or you may be accused of rebroadcasting music and therefore subject to paying royalties. According to the Performing Rights Society (PRS), if others can hear the music you are playing on your radio, and God knows what else, it constitutes copyright infringement. How bizarre is that?
Copyright Enforcement Goes Looney-Tech! is certainly an understatement. The PRS must be on something to come up with this absurdity. Wouldn't it be nice to get paid to hallucinate? Or, perhaps we could fine ease droppers to recoup the fine for playing music that others heard.
Will the PRS start offering whistle blower rewards to those who report people for playing music loud enough for them to hear?
How about those boom-box cars playing music at earth shaking volumes? Would this give police enforcement the authority to hand out tickets for "moving copyright infringement"?
Will people put up with this? I think not. Then where will their industry be?

Record Industry Goes After Kids of Woman Accused of Illegal Downloading

2006-11-02T06:43:36Z

As Reported by Fox News - 11/2/2006
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Patricia Santangelo wouldn't concede in her fight with record companies that accused her of pirating songs over the Internet. Now the companies are hoping for an easier tussle against her kids.
Five record companies, represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, filed a lawsuit in federal court in White Plains on Wednesday against Santangelo's son and daughter.
It said Michelle Santangelo, 20, has acknowledged downloading songs on the family computer and that her brother, Robert, 16, had been implicated in statements his best friend made.
It accuses the two of downloading and distributing over 1,000 songs, including "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" by the Offspring, "MMMBop" by Hanson and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson.
"In short, each of the defendants participated in the substantial violations of plaintiffs' copyrights at issue and then concealed their involvement, standing idly by as Patricia Santangelo repeatedly protested their innocence and chastised plaintiffs for filing allegedly frivolous litigation," the complaint said.

Offshore Software Usage and Development

2006-11-01T07:30:55Z

U.S. companies with subsidiaries or branch offices in other countries are still responsible for compliance with software copyright law.
UK's FAST [is] Serious About Software Compliance. “…if they're using illegal stuff in the business, officers of the company … put themselves within the frame, under the Act, of prosecution." Software license responsibilities follow a company regardless of where subsidiaries and branches are located.
This applies to Open Source code for applications developed in the U.S. or outsourced to other countries. If something is illegal on company computers, the company is liable. Open Source presents unique challenges since code can come from different places. Knowing your code compliance is becoming as important as knowing your software compliance. One company offering a solution to Open Source software compliance management is Black Duck Software.

MODERN PIRATES

2006-11-21T01:51:47Z

Have you read MODERN PIRATES yet? Shared it with your CIO? Has your management changed? Sharing this book is a very effective way of introducing your CIO or new management to what you are doing, or what can be done, to reduce the liabilities of software within the company while providing a very profitable offense against the ever prowling BSA. Don't get caught with your...guard down.
Read a sample chapter of this valuable resource.
Amazon
Barns and Noble
Search on Alan L. Plastow.

Cheap Software, watch out...

2005-11-12T05:30:29Z

One of the items to be sure to have and keep on file in the Software Center is Certificates of Authenticity. I've received e-mails from various sources titled 'Cheap Software' or 'Very Cheap Software', offering applications for three to five times less than in stores. I wonder where these sources get these applications and how they can afford to sell them at such huge "discounts"...

Copyright.gov by the LOC

2005-01-15T07:32:25Z

A foundation of all software licensing is the copyright law on which it is built. The US Library of Congress provides a website copyright.gov with educational information for anyone interested in the latest happenings including new legislation.

Intimidation and Threats

2005-02-09T07:22:04Z

Threats to drive sales and trick customers are not acceptable under any economic climate. Companies can avoid vendor audit hassles and look calmly into the face of threats to pick their pockets by performing self-audits to determine needs, and being software compliant.

Speaking Out About Unfair Software Enforcement Actions

2006-08-23T11:56:21Z

I have great admiration for Sterling Ball, CEO of Ernie Ball, for breaking the silence concerning enforcement actions. He over came the feelings of shame and humiliation, that we've been told we're supposed to feel when confronted with an enforcement event, to tell the world about his company’s software non-compliance experience. Enforcement actions are much more prevalent than we think. Smaller companies are more vulnerable to enforcement actions, although some very large companies in the San Francisco Bay Area have been hit. Reported companies are not alone. Only an estimated 10% of enforcement actions are publicized.