Hacker 2/HACKER2.mdf/cud/cud506g.txt

Text File | 1995-01-03 | 7KB | 127 lines

Date: 23 Jan 93 13:22:55 PST
From: Jim Thomas <[e-mail]>
Subject: File 7--The BSA, APL BBS, and Anti-Piracy Crackdowns

Since the press release submitted above, the Business Software
Alliance (BSA) case against APL has been settled (in November, '92).
The APL BBS, also known as "The Great American Exchange" in Baltimore,
Maryland, was raided on 1 October. According to BSA spokespersons and
court documents, the estimated value of the software seized was worth
over $100,000. A BSA press release indicates that the organization is
currently reviewing APL's records for possible additional legal action
against system users who may have illegally uploaded or downloaded
copyright programs. It should be noted that the raid occured prior to
the enactment of PL 102-561, signed into law on October 28, 1992,
which criminalizes a low threshold of software duplication and
dissemination.

According to Arter and Hadden, a Washington, D.C. law firm
representing BSA and Nintendo of America, the case was resolved with a
court order that issued a permanent injunction against the defendant
from resuming operations, and the equipment on which the board ran was
seized and will be turned over to BSA as part of the settlement.
Although the $25,000 estimate of the value of the equipment seems
over-estimated, the list of seized property indicates a substantial
loss. Seized property included two HST modems, nearly a dozen cases of
floppy disks, several boxes of data tapes, hard drives, a scanner, two
tower CPUs, a fax machine, and other equipment.

The case was brought as a federal civil action (MJG 92-2757) in the
U.S. District Court of Maryland. The investigation was conducted by
Software Security International on behalf of the BSA. According to a
BSA press release, the three Federal Marshalls participating in the
raid were Ricardo Guzman, Dave Hinman, and Kurt Vogan.

The BSA, founded in 1988, is a coalitionion of eight high-revenue
software companies:  1) Apple Computer 2) Autodesk 3) Central Point
Software 4) Lotus Development 5) Microsoft 6) Novell 7) Symantec, and
8) Word Perfect.  These eight companies have about 71 percent of the
world's packaged software market, according to BSA officials.

A BSA spokesperson explained that the organization prefers to think of
itself as a coalition rather than a professional association. Like the
Software Publishers Association, the group aims to eradicate software
piracy but, also like the SPA, engages in other activities that
include education about copyright law, working with legislators and
law enforcement on policy and legislative issues to toughen especially
international anti-piracy laws, and working with customs agents to
alert them to the problems of identifying software purchased overseas
and imported back into the U.S. Although the BSA focuses primarily on
international piracy, it has recently turned its attention to domestic
concerns. According to a press release, the APL case was its first
legal action in the U.S.

According to BSA spokesperson Diane Smiroldo, the BSA represents its
eight members in their fight against piracy in more than 30 countries.
Although most of these companies are also members of the SPA, the SPA
does not represent them in their anti-piracy  efforts.  The SPA
represented the eight companies in the U.S. until July 1992, but since
JULY, the eight decided that they wanted the BSA to represent them for
efficiency's sake, because they head up the anti-piracy in other parts
of the world. According to Ms. Spiroldo:

    "It's important to emphasize that we don't just sue. We're
    not a 'litigation-only' organization. We launch education
    programs, we work with the local software associations in the
    different countries to get support for enforcement and strong
    copyright regulations."

The BSA estimates that world-wide piracy losses run between $10-$12
billion annually.  They also estimate that the piracy rate for PC
packaged software runs between 40-50 percent. Ms. Smiroldo adds:

     We see that particularly in countries like Asia and Latin
     American where there are some store fronts, vendors, where you
     can just walk up in Honk Kong, and there'll be a list of
     software available, and they'll download it and copy it on the
     number of disks needed, and you can buy it for about $10 or
     $15....We work closely with customs agents to recognize
     counterfeit and illegally copied products.

A few excerpts from BSA press releases and other documents illustrate
the organization's goals:

     The Business Software Alliance (BSA), citing a persistent link
     to the spread of computer viruses, today ((24 November, 1992))
     announced the launch of a new worldwide enforcement effort to
     crack down on electronic bulletin board systems (BBS) that are
     distributing illegal softare. Relying on specially-trained
     teams of lawyers and private investigators, and in cooperation
     with police, BSA announced today one of the first results of
     the new campaign--a sweep by the Berlin police of illegal BBS
     operators throughout that city, closing down and seizing
     equipment at 13 BBS operations that have been distributing
     illegal software copies throughout Germany. The operators of
     the bulletin boards now face criminal prosecution, with a
     maximum prison sentence of 5 years.

++++

     In Berlin the police force raided thirteen illegal electronic
     BBS operations on October 28 and seized approximately 25
     computers containing illegal software programs on over six
     gigabytes of storage capacity....The police acted after an
     investigation by the BSA found initial evidence of substantial
     illegal distribution throughout the country by the BBS
     involved. BSA then provided this evidence to the police and
     public prosecutor's office in Berlin, requested that they take
     action to close the offending operations, and provided ongoing
     investigative and legal assistance to further this
     effort...."We are determined to take vigorous actions to close
     down illegal bulletin board operators," said BSA European
     Counsel Bradford Smith. "We have witnessed during the last
     year the rapid proliferation of illegal bulletin boards
     throughout Europe, and believe that there is a persistent
     pattern linking these operators, not only with the
     distribution of illegal software, but also with the spread of
     computer viruses.  We now possess information pointing to
     illegal distribution by over 100 other BBS operators in
     Europe, and we will continue to bring more cases in additional
     countries."

The BSA also announced a crackdown on Belgian BBSes. CuD will
expand on BSA activities in future issues in an attempt to
bring the debate over software piracy into a public forum.

Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253