ChannelAdvisor Fined $150,000 For Unlicensed Microsoft Software
ChannelAdvisor Fined $150,000 For Unlicensed Microsoft Software 07 August 2012 EventHorizon1984
CEO Scot Wingo's ChannelAdvisor made the news late last week. For a "private software-as-a-service company", which has eBay as an investor, it was rather embarrassing news.
"Morrisville-based ChannelAdvisor has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle claims that it had pirated software installed on its computer."
"ChannelAdvisor had also agreed to delete from its computers all unlicensed software, to acquire any licenses necessary to be compliant and to take measures to ensure the situation won’t happen again."
ChannelAdvisor's response to the Business Software Alliance findings and fine, were as usual professional and to the point. As stated by ChannelAdvisor General Counsel Scot Alridge:
"As a software vendor ourselves, we take licensing very seriously" "ChannelAdvsior underwent a voluntary internal audit after BSA brought to our attention a potential shortfall in one of our software licenses." "We found that we had acquired an insufficient number of licenses to support our recent growth."
The formal response from the Business Software Alliance was equally cut and dry:
Essentially a slap-on-the wrist, at least for a company that secured $20 million in funding and had "recent growth", because the penalties could have been much worse.
"BSA is the largest and most international IT industry group, with policy, legal and/or educational programs in 80 countries."
BSA's members include notables Adobe, Apple, AVG, CA Technologies, Intel, Intuit, McAfee, Microsoft, Sybase, Symantec.
Or put another way, BSA's clout can be measured in the billions of dollars of corporate legal services their members can bring to bear.
How did extra unlicensed copies of Microsoft software get installed on secure computers without following, one presumes, a set-in-stone corporate procedure? We'll leave the reader and ChannelAdvisor to ponder that question.
As to how BSA found out about the unlicensed software? Anonymous tip.
The Business Software Alliance has a page for submitting tips:
ChannelAdvisor Fined $150,000 For Unlicensed Microsoft Software
ChannelAdvisor Fined $150,000 For Unlicensed Microsoft Software 07 August 2012 EventHorizon1984
CEO Scot Wingo's ChannelAdvisor made the news late last week. For a "private software-as-a-service company", which has eBay as an investor, it was rather embarrassing news.
"Morrisville-based ChannelAdvisor has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle claims that it had pirated software installed on its computer."
"ChannelAdvisor had also agreed to delete from its computers all unlicensed software, to acquire any licenses necessary to be compliant and to take measures to ensure the situation won’t happen again."
ChannelAdvisor's response to the Business Software Alliance findings and fine, were as usual professional and to the point. As stated by ChannelAdvisor General Counsel Scot Alridge:
"As a software vendor ourselves, we take licensing very seriously" "ChannelAdvsior underwent a voluntary internal audit after BSA brought to our attention a potential shortfall in one of our software licenses." "We found that we had acquired an insufficient number of licenses to support our recent growth."
The formal response from the Business Software Alliance was equally cut and dry:
Essentially a slap-on-the wrist, at least for a company that secured $20 million in funding and had "recent growth", because the penalties could have been much worse.
"BSA is the largest and most international IT industry group, with policy, legal and/or educational programs in 80 countries."
BSA's members include notables Adobe, Apple, AVG, CA Technologies, Intel, Intuit, McAfee, Microsoft, Sybase, Symantec.
Or put another way, BSA's clout can be measured in the billions of dollars of corporate legal services their members can bring to bear.
How did extra unlicensed copies of Microsoft software get installed on secure computers without following, one presumes, a set-in-stone corporate procedure? We'll leave the reader and ChannelAdvisor to ponder that question.
As to how BSA found out about the unlicensed software? Anonymous tip.
The Business Software Alliance has a page for submitting tips:
ChannelAdvisor Fined $150,000 For Unlicensed Microsoft Software
ChannelAdvisor Fined $150,000 For Unlicensed Microsoft Software
07 August 2012
EventHorizon1984
CEO Scot Wingo's ChannelAdvisor made the news late last week. For a "private software-as-a-service company", which has eBay as an investor, it was rather embarrassing news.
ChannelAdvisor's response to the Business Software Alliance findings and fine, were as usual professional and to the point. As stated by ChannelAdvisor General Counsel Scot Alridge:
"ChannelAdvsior underwent a voluntary internal audit after BSA brought to our attention a potential shortfall in one of our software licenses."
"We found that we had acquired an insufficient number of licenses to support our recent growth."
The formal response from the Business Software Alliance was equally cut and dry:
Essentially a slap-on-the wrist, at least for a company that secured $20 million in funding and had "recent growth", because the penalties could have been much worse.
At this point you're asking, 'who is the Business Software Alliance', and why would anyone answer to them?
BSA's members include notables Adobe, Apple, AVG, CA Technologies, Intel, Intuit, McAfee, Microsoft, Sybase, Symantec.
Or put another way, BSA's clout can be measured in the billions of dollars of corporate legal services their members can bring to bear.
How did extra unlicensed copies of Microsoft software get installed on secure computers without following, one presumes, a set-in-stone corporate procedure? We'll leave the reader and ChannelAdvisor to ponder that question.
As to how BSA found out about the unlicensed software? Anonymous tip.
The Business Software Alliance has a page for submitting tips:
With rewards for tips:
According to BSA, a settlement paid by a company of $100,001 to $200,000 earns a potential reward of "Up to $10,000".
Not a bad reward for filling out an anonymous tip report.
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Posted at 11:10 in Business, Commentary, eBay, Legal, MicroSoft | Permalink
Tags: $150000, BSA, Business Software Alliance, ChannelAdvisor, eBay, fine, Microsoft, Report Piracy Now, Sarbanes-Oxley, Scot Alridge, Scot Wingo, software dispute, software settlement, unlicensed software
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