P-0340 - Personal Computer Policy 04-04-1996

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MEMO R=A N D U M To All De artment Heads p From: Keith Brooks, Data Processing Manager Re Copyright infringement of PC based software Date: March 10, 1994 f i',' '!` I,~ ~~;: Ir ~~' I I Company raided for possible copyright violation Washington, DC -The Business Software Alliance (BSA) said it raided the offices of Healthcare Revenue Management Inc. for suspectedcopyright infringement ofsoftware programs loaded onto company computers. Acting under an order issued by the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Cali- fornia, BSA auditors, accompanied by US ~ Marshals, raided the premises of the San Francisco company on Nov. 17, 1993. Mul- e tiple copies of unlicensed software - includ- g products by Lotus Development Corp., rosoft Corp., and WordPerfect Corp., al! members ofthe B S A -were found on comput- ers used by the company. Healthcare Rev- . enueManagement,amid-sizedcompanyspe- cializing in analysis and admini,-tr-.ttion of heal thcare expenses, faces a peter Val liability of $100,000 foreach illegal software product. "Illegal copying occurs in small and mid- sized companies, as well as among the For- tune 500," explained Robert Knrger, BSA's director of enforcement. "All companies need to adopt programs to control software piracy and make it clear that they will take action against employees who engage in This form of theft. T'he BSA will nol hesitate to act where we have clear evidence of infringement re- gardless of the size of the company ° BSA promotes the continued growth of the software industry through its programs in the U.S. and more than SOothercountries through- out the world. BSA's members -including Aldus, Apple Computer, Autodesk, Com- puler Associates, Intergraph, Lotus, Microsoft, Novell, and WordPerfect -provide nearly 75 percent of the world's packaged PC soft- ware published by U.S: based compa..,es. Since its inception in 1988, BSA has filed more than 400 lawsuits worldwide against suspected softwanecopyright in5-ingers. 'The BSA also initiates audits of organizations suspected of usi»g copied software. BSA operates 20 hotlines around the world for callers seeking information about copy- right matters or to report suspected incidents of unauthorized copying of softwarti. Callers in the U.S. can dial (800) 688.BSA1 (2721). This article appeared in the current issue of a leading PC magazine. As you can see, the..unauthorized copying of software is taken seriously by the PC software industry. The County has a set of approved PC Policies which state we will adhere to all copyright laws governing software protection. My staff indicates to me that we do have several ilegal copies of some software loaded on County computers. I have instructed them to bring any of this to my attention in the future and I will discuss it with the appropriate department heads.