Category Archives: «SIIA Audits»

Businesses that receive software audit demand letters from auditing ......

Sometimes a company receives notices of audits from many publishers......

Many companies who comply with a demand by a software publisher or industry associat......

[caption id="attachment_4770" align="alignnone" width="608"] Can a BSA | The Software Alliance or SIIA Audit be Short Circuited?[/caption] ......

Settlement Agreements with the SIIA, a trade association for the software and digital content industry, often contain provisions requiring the audited company to not only purchase software to satisfy licensing deficiencies it carries going forward after settlement, but also ......

One of the most controversial tactics the SIIA uses when calculating its settlement demands is its practice of unbundling software suites such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite. Unbundling occurs when the target of a SIIA audit is unable to provide acceptable proo......

One of the first things I ask a prospective client is: What is the date on the initial letter you received from the SIIA? The date on the initial in a SIIA letter is often referred to as the Audit Effective Date. This date is important for many reasons. I like to tell my cli......

The targets of SIIA audits frequently believe that they know who reported them to the Software & Information Industry Association. Justifiably angry, they want to know what legal recourse they have against the informant. Because the informants are frequently out of work,......

Software piracy audits conducted by the BSA and the SIIA threaten small and medium sized businesses. As the economy tightens, software publishers such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Autodesk hide behind software piracy enforcement groups to pursue customers accused of installing m......

After receiving a request from the Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”), many companies choose to conduct an internal audit of software installed on their networks. There are multiple considerations regarding the strategy for conducting an audit, incl......

Like all audits, success in a SIIA software audit depends less on what you own and more on what you can prove that you own. Although not required by law, the SIIA takes the position that a target company is out of compliance for each installation of SIIA member software prod......

The Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”) is an organization that pursues copyright infringement claims on behalf of many software publishers against companies it accuses of violating its members’ software license agreements. Although many companies ......

Legal fees and expenses can quickly add up defending against a Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”) audit and potential software copyright infringement claims. The SIIA typically demands a penalty based on some multiple of the MSRP of each product all......

Once the Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”) sends a letter to a company questioning the authenticity of software licensing status and demanding a self audit, it is very important to have proofs of purchase for the licenses in question. Unless a comp......

If your company has received a letter from the SIIA requesting a software audit, you are probably wondering whether you should cooperate or tell the SIIA to pound sand. I advise my clients to cooperate but to do so in a manner that will not jeopardize their legal position in......

Your business has just finished spending the last year of its corporate life responding to a software audit demanded by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) or the Software &Information Industry Association (SIIA). It has devoted substantial time and internal resources i......

In a previous post, I introduced the concept of post-settlement compliance following the settlement of audits initiated by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). As noted before, the first step to completing the c......

One of the most common mistakes I encounter in SIIA audits is what I call the post-effective date software buying spree. The buying spree occurs in response to a letter from the SIIA’s attorneys requesting a self audit. Many clients are discouraged to learn that software p......

As the year comes to a close, many software publishers and trade associations with calendar year accounting are resolving as many outstanding software audits as possible. Companies currently engaged in a software audit may be able to negotiate favorable resolutions to their ......

On January 12, 2012, the D.C. Court of Appeals held that the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) would not be required to disclose the name of one of its confidential informants in a civil case for defamation. Solers, Inc. had filed its lawsuit against a J......

In Solers, Inc. v. Doe, 2009 WL 2460862 (D.C. 2009), Solers, Inc. (“Solers”) filed an action against “John Doe” defendant, alleging defamation and tortious interference with prospective advantageous business opportunities based on a......

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is well known for contacting businesses regarding claims of copyright infringement based on unlicensed use of its members’ software. The audit process associated with those matters can be arduous, and fines payable......

What is software piracy? Like many politically charged phrases, the definition of software piracy is influenced by your financial interests and your viewpoint. The Software & Information Industry Association recognizes several types of piracy, including, softlifting (ins......