The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) are organizations that represent software publishers seeking to enforce the copyrights in the products they publish. In furtherance of this goal, these entities routinely send letters to businesses they believe may be infringing their members’ copyrights by failing to satisfy the requirements…
Companies react in different ways after receiving a letter from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) or the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) demanding a software audit. Some ignore the letter, assuming it to be some kind of spam or marketing ploy. This is not advisable. Audit demands from the BSA and SIIA generally are…
Businesses that receive software audit demand letters from auditing entities such as the BSA or SIIA, or from software companies like Autodesk or Microsoft, often contend they cleaned up their network after receipt of the letter and should be released from any further obligation to conduct an audit or communicate with the auditor. Audited business should…
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 to purchase software from an “authorized reseller.” An authorized reseller is a vendor with permission to…
Many companies who comply with a demand by a software publisher or industry association (such as the BSA or the SIIA) for an internal software audit end up facing significant settlement demands after forwarding their audit materials to the other side. One of the reasons the settlement demands often are so high is the fact…
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 proof of purchase for one or more installation of a software suite….
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 clients…
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, having been fired by the target, I advise my clients about the number…
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 more software on corporate computers than they have purchased licenses for. If your company has…
One of the top ten questions asked by my clients is “How long does the SIIA self-audit process take from start to finish?” Of course I give the standard lawyer answer: it depends. Here are the steps to a typical SIIA audit. Preparation of Audit Materials (3 to 6 months) A SIIA audit is a…
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, including, but not limited to, the nature of the company’s record-keeping, the size of the company, the size of…
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 products for which the target…
