Do software companies have the right to bring charges of copyright infringement against people and companies when they themselves have copied other people's and company's software code? Is it right for them to say that others cannot reverse engineer their software when reverse engineering is an industry standard? Or is it because they don't want anyone to see what they have pirated?

The Great Software Fraud drills down to the lowest level code to prove the point that Software companies have been lying to us for years, claiming their software is new, original, proprietary, and exclusive to them.

How software patents came to be is also interesting since patents are for tangible things like printers, CPUs, monitors and other hardware.

This is a fascinating read. I had to copy and paste the link into Outlook instead of Firefox to be able to order this book.

It used to be that if you paid for a license to use a software program you were considered “software legal”. Now, however, not only must you pay for, and prove that you paid for the application, it must be used according to the agreement. Do you read license agreements?

How important is it to read all license agreements to all copyrighted products? VERY! Reading the agreements and following what is being agreed to is key or you will be feeding the software industry kitty over and over again. And, it has become difficult to know what is being agreed to as agreements become purposely more complex.

While searching the internet for a totally different subject, I came across the website LawGuru.com. This site got my attention and I started checking it out.

I found an area on Intellectual Properties where questions may be posted regarding this area of law. You will not get a detailed answer, but by going through this section, one can find all sorts of interesting questions and answers from attorneys from all over the country.

One example of a question is "Is a cease and desist letter necessary before filing a suit for copyright infringement?." The answer was simply "No, but it does have its uses. For example, when a website has content posted on it by a third party and you simply want the content removed."

The part that is useful is that anyone can post a question and have an attorney who specializes in this area of law answer the question. Like stated before, you will not get a detailed answer, but you will get an answer that will point you in the right direction without first spending a bunch on money on an attorney.

Microsoft’s Regulatory Compliance Planning Guide, published June 16, 2006, is available on the ITOBSERVER site.

The Regulatory Compliance Planning Guide is designed to help IT managers and Microsoft customers meet specific IT compliance obligations that directly relate to major regulations and standards. The guide introduces a framework-based approach that you can use as part of your efforts to comply with these regulations and standards.

At last there is a comprehensive, fun-to-read book about Software Asset Management, MODERN PIRATES, Protect Your Company From The Software Police by Alan L. Plastow of BizTechNet.org. Alan’s conversational style will hold your attention, not put you to sleep, while opening portholes of little known insights into the Software Asset Management and associated fields.

This is the first publication I've seen outside of some certification courses that tells it as it is while offering important insights and solutions. Alan L. Plastow has an extensive background in Software Asset Management. He is a dynamic instructor and author. As I read MODERN PIRATES my mind kept asking, "Who are the real pirates?"

In 2002 the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) modified the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. SOX has presented huge challenges for companies to report their financial conditions, including tangible and intangible assets such as hardware, software, copyrights and agreements. The intent was to eliminate accounting fraud such as occurred with Enron and WorldCom. Small companies have been particularly impacted by the financial cost of complying with SOX.

Currently, Kenneth Star and others are leading a constitutional challenge of Sarbanes-Oxley. SOX "could be invalidated if any of its sections is found unconstitutional," says Marcy Gordon in Sarbanes-Oxley getting first Constitutional challenge from Starr, others. The article gives an overview of the objections to Sarbanes-Oxley. The group is "challenging the board it established to oversee the accounting industry and arguing that it violates the Constitution’s separation of powers among the three branches of government." Also, companies "want to ease its requirements for reporting on the strength of internal financial controls, because of the costs they impose."

Did SOX go too far?

Employees or former employees who can’t tolerate outright thievery of software or are disgruntled, seeking revenge, have reported many companies. There are rewards for doing so. Review SIIA Offers Whistleblowing Cash Rewards. The SIIA and BSA, etc. are just a phone call or a few clicks away. They all have hotlines and online reporting forms.

Inform your management team of an Executive Briefing, February 27th 2006, presented by Biztechnet.org.

"Discover why executive management is on the front line in any piracy litigation."

"Find out what to do to keep yourself and your company out of the target zone. Avoid six figure fines. Avoid serious damage to your corporate credibility and reputation. Avoid even more serious damage to your resume."

Alan Plastow presents a live introduction to this important briefing, here. Information and a registration form are available on the site.

As a part of software negotiations, it has been recommended in Bill Rhea’s comment that one "tell the vendor what you need to effectively manage their produce". Include the agreed upon solution in the Terms and Conditions (Ts & Cs), such as standard registry headers. If more people demand standard registry headers, perhaps the message will get through.

A T&C concerning unlock keys can ensure that the right people are given access to applications. A condition to send unlock keys to the SAM or ITAM for distribution, or get approval from them, will result in tremendous time and money savings for your company.

There are many must-have Ts & Cs for software purchases. One in a series by Alan Plastow has to do with publishers auditing for compliance called Right to Audit Clause.

If you have some favorite Ts & Cs that have helped your company, please share them with us by registering and adding a comment.

Remember this, most companies do not intentionally violate software copyright law.

Unless the company has an effective Software Asset Management (SAM) or IT Asset Management (ITAM) program that tracks and reconciles licenses to paid invoices, and monitors the environment, no one knows if it’s guilty or not, except those within the company who have knowingly violated copyright law...and they're not telling. If the company doesn’t know the rules of what constitutes a violation, it doesn’t realize it is in violation, as described in Speaking Out About Unfair Enforcement Actions.

How do companies unknowingly get in trouble with software copyright compliance? Take a deep breath...and click on read more...

Remember the SPA/SIIA's slogan "Don't Copy That Floppy"? The SIIA has adopted a new slogan, "It's More than a Copy; It's a Crime".

In the March 7, 2005 press release, the SIIA decided that this new slogan "effectively conveyed the increased enforcement and penalties that are being handed down to even one-time offenders." Further, "SIIA expects the slogan to increase awareness of their ongoing and future anti-piracy initiatives."

Are you ready?

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) granted its first whistleblower cash reward in January 2004 for $2,000. The largest award was reported in December 2004 for $5,000.

As stated in the December 2004 press release by the SIIA,

The Anti-Piracy Reward Program is specifically designed to encourage workers to come forward, since employee tips are an invaluable tool in the fight against software piracy. In exchange for providing detailed information about the extent and type of piracy occurring, and cooperating during SIIA’s investigation, program participants are entitled to a portion of the fine paid by the offending company.

Rather than audit computers for compliance, a supervisor was quoted as saying, “Getting caught and paying the fine is cheaper than tracking licenses.” The company settled the case, paying a $115,000 fine to SIIA. The actual cost of a compliance event like this can easily run three to six times the amount of the settlement.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is on the move again, filing lawsuites against 717 people for sharing music.

• What is intellectual property? The most common forms of intellectual property include patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
• What is a software license? When buying software, it is the license that is purchased. The license is a contract between a publisher and a user regarding a software's terms of use. This builds upon an existing body of copyright law.
• What is a software patent? Software patents are the application of patent law to software.
• Given the trend of internationalization, what effects does this have on software use? Each jurisdiction may have different laws regarding copyright in general and software in particular. Issues are currently negotiated on a case by case basis. It is important to read each license to determine acceptable usage. If in doublt, call the publisherwith international usage questions.
• What is so difficult about SAM from a legal perspective? Changes in legislation, case law and accounting rules governing SAM are ongoing. Some software enforcement practices are unreasonable and legal professionals are often caught unaware of current practices.