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The firms involved in the Business Software Alliance's (BSA) crackdown include Unison, Usit, Ultragraphics, Data Exchange, Irish Microfilm and Byrne Looby partners trading as Alpha Engineering.
According to a report in the Irish Times, Unison, the ISP controlled by Independent News and Media, said the company was "baffled" by the BSA's "premature and unnecessary" action as it had agreed to disclose details of its compliance with software licensing agreements, subject to a confidentiality agreement.
In the same report Usit, the student travel group said it could not comment on the allegations.
The penalty, under Irish Law if found guilty of software piracy is up to five years in prison for company directors, and firms can be fined up to IEP100,000 if found guilty of software piracy. Additionally, informants can receive a reward of up to IEP5,000 from the BSA if their information leads to a conviction.
In May, Architect firm O'Brien & Kaye Limited Associates was raided by the BSA under the new Irish copyright legislation. After the raid, the company's managing director Arthur O'Brien was informed of the discoveries, which alleged that the firm was indeed using illegal software copies.
According to the BSA, he and his firm have subsequently worked with the BSA and Autodesk to rectify all software irregularities at the practice. In addition, O'Brien & Kaye have paid a significant sum of money to BSA in respect of the unauthorised software licences, and have also embarked on a campaign in association with the BSA to eradicate all unregistered software from the architectural profession.
"Software piracy is a very serious problem for software developers - up to 41 percent of all software in use in Ireland is pirated, costing the industry an estimated USD77 million. We, as Architects, have an obligation to lead the campaign to eradicate pirated software as we depend on these companies not only for our tools of work but also, in many cases, for our commissions in building design," O' Brien said.
In the same week the Business Software Alliance began on an international software piracy "Sweeps Week" to "clean up" software piracy in businesses and organisations around the world.
BSA announced 88 legal actions taken in the weeks leading up to the end of May against companies across Western Europe involved in software theft, resulting in the payment of USD1.2 million (EUR1.4 million) in settlements and damages. This brings the number of worldwide actions to 159 across 31 countries, resulting in settlements totalling USD6.2 million.
Also according to the BSA, at 34 percent, Western Europe is the region with the second lowest piracy rate in 2000 but it experienced the second highest dollar losses, hitting just over USD3 billion. This amount accounts for 26 percent of the total global losses due to software piracy.
BSA Ireland members include, Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Macromedia, Microsoft, Priority Data Group and Symantec.
BSA Ireland Web site: www.bsa.org/ireland.
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