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Irish firms face piracy allegations
Friday, August 03 2001
by Matthew Clark


Six companies in Ireland face the possibility of legal action over alleged
software piracy infractions following summonses issued by the BSA. 

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.