5 years ago...BSA demands action on piracy

13.10.1999:The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has written to the European Parliament and heads of EU member states demanding action on software piracy.

The letter, written on behalf of software industry leaders, calls for the adoption of a five-point action plan.

First, the BSA wants the punishments for forging software to be harmonised across the EU. It also wants the EU to set up an agency devoted to stopping copyright-related crime. Thirdly, the letter calls for an investigation into CD plants and, if necessary, the enforcement of licensing and mandatory ID codes.

Penultimately, the BSA wants new entrants to the EU to prove they have a good track record in intellectual property. And finally, it wants European and national institutions to set a good example in removing all illegal software from their premises.

Brussels and Strasbourg have yet to reply to the demands.

13.10.2004: It would seem the BSA – backed by software industry heavyweights such as Adobe and Microsoft - is still waiting for a response as nothing concrete came out of the proposals or the five-point action plan.

The European Parliament has however recently passed controversial legislation aimed at cracking down on copyright pirates, ranging from DVD counterfeiters to illicit Viagra sellers online. The law had prompted a surge of last-minute protest from civil liberties groups worried that draconian provisions could be applied to ordinary net surfers, such as individual music swappers.

In the meantime, the BSA has continued its crackdown on businesses who use unlicensed or counterfeit software. Several high profile companies, including WHSmith, have been fined as well as being 'named and shamed' in recent years.

The BSA's aggressive tactics through its annual software audit letters to businesses have come under fire in the past but the BSA has stepped up its fight to combat piracy, claiming almost a third of software in the UK is pirated, costing the UK software industry £860m a year.