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The BSA carried out a software audit in March which targeted 15,000 companies and received a response rate of 42 percent, which the alliance claims is very high. The March audit resulted in legal proceedings in July 2001 against seven Irish companies, including Unison and Usit, for alleged illegal use of BSA member software.
While those proceedings are currently ongoing before the Circuit Court, and the BSA is therefore unable to make any comment about them, it said that the success of the March audit has stimulated the organisation to perform a second evaluation.
The new audit is scheduled to begin in September 2001 and will target an additional 5,000 Irish companies. The companies involved in the audit will be given a software audit return form to register their software legally. Companies that can demonstrate good licensing practice will be issued with a 2001 Certificate of Recognition.
The BSA has also been encouraged by the response to its "Make a Report" program, which offers a reward to companies confidentially reporting instances of software piracy. The "Make a Report" program offers participants a reward of 10 percent of any recovery value up to IEP5,000, paid for information which leads to a successful judgement or settlement.
Julian McMenamin, chair of BSA Ireland, said that it is important for company directors to understand the penalties that may be imposed for software piracy in Ireland. Under the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, penalties for illegal use of software include fines of up to IEP100,000, or five years in prison, or both, for company directors.
In 2000, 41 percent of Irish businesses were using software illegally, according to the spokesperson. This compares with 26 percent in the UK, 34 percent in continental Europe, and 25 percent in the US.
In addition, the cost of software piracy to Irish businesses in lost revenues in 2000 was USD77 million, according to the BSA.
However, software piracy rates have been falling steadily in Ireland since 1976, when 72 percent of businesses were using software illegally, she added.
The BSA advises computer users about software copyright, advocates public policy to encourage innovation and expanded trade opportunities and seeks to combat software piracy.
BSA members in Ireland include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Macromedia, Microsoft, Priority Data Group and Symantec.
BSA is at http://www.bsa.org/ireland.
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