Building and manufacturing sectors top software piracy

The building and manufacturing sectors have been responsible for the most illegal software use in 2016, according to BSA | The Software Alliance.

The industry alliance revealed it took action against cases of illegal software use with an estimated value of nearly $200,000 in the first half of the year.

In the latest case, BSA said it recently settled with a NSW exhibition stand designer and builder over the alleged illegal use of Microsoft Office, Autodesk 3ds Max and Adobe Creative Cloud to the value of $50,000.

The alliance offers up to $20,000 to whistleblowers who disclose accurate information regarding infringement of BSA members' software, so long as they provide assistance and evidence to support the tip.

Each business found using unlicensed software was required to purchase software licences in addition to paying copyright infringement damages.

“This year’s results to date… demonstrate that illegal software use remains a challenge in the manufacturing and building industries across the country,” BSA senior director for Asia-Pacific Tarun Sawney said.

“A sound software asset management (SAM) program with regular IT audits will ensure that businesses can avoid the damaging consequences of using unlicensed software, including serious cybercrime risks and losses, and get the best return on investment from their software licence purchases, including data security by way of product updates and patching.”

Image courtesy of Michell Zappa under CC