The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a watchdog group representing the nation's leading software manufacturers, announced last week that MediMedia, a New Jersey healthcare company, conducted a self-audit and settled claims related to unlicensed software programs on its computers.
The company paid BSA $375,000 in settlement, agreed to bring all its software into compliance, and strengthened its software management practices.
Dave Mettille, Senior Vice President of Operations at MediMedia said,
"As a rapidly expanding company focused on many challenging market opportunities, our growth curve outpaced our focus on basic housekeeping tasks. Even before BSA contacted us, we were in the process of reviewing and updating our licensure compliance. Because of our common concerns and sensitivity to technology protection and innovation, we cooperated fully with BSA."
Most investigations begin with a call to BSA's hotline, 1-888-NO PIRACY, or with a report to BSA's Online Reporting Form. After being contacted by BSA about the issue, the company cooperated fully by performing a self-audit and worked with BSA on a swift resolution.
Jenny Blank, director of enforcement for BSA said,
"This settlement demonstrates that even good, well-managed companies run into issues with software copyright compliance. All companies, large or small, need to have effective software asset management plans in place to ensure that they don't run afoul of the copyright laws."
An independent study shows that 21% of software in the United States is unlicensed. Last year, the U.S. lost $6.6 billion as a result of software piracy.
Businesses trying to determine whether their organization is using unlicensed software can download the free software audit tools at http://www.bsaaudit.com.
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