Magnetic Pages Article | 1993-07-22 | 9KB | 94 lines
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[6";32;41m THE PROBLEM OF SOFTWARE THEFT IN NZ.
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[3mThis article was taken from the June) 1993 issue of Amsmag disk magazine.
&Research conducted by leading computer&companies in 1991 revealed that the&average use of software in NZ is&between 3 and 4 applications per&personal computer (PC) comparable with&worldwide figures for developed
countries.
&However, sales of software through&local industry channels average&between 1.5 and 2.0 applications per&PC in NZ. This indicates that NZ PC&users purchase substantially less&software than estimated software
usage.
&Software theft is the major reason for&the disparity between usage and&purchase figures. Potentially half of&all the software in use is illegal,&making the incidence of software theft&in NZ among the worst in the Western
World.
&Based on PC sales statistics supplied&by IDC Research, it is estimated this&equates to a loss of $50 million a!year by the NZ software industry.
# BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE OF NZ# --------------------------------
&The Business SOftware Alliance of NZ&(BSANZ) is a unique alliance, formed&in April, 1992 by five leading&software companies - Aldus, Autodesk&Australia, MicroSoft and WordPerfect&Pacific working in association with a&large number of NZ software
distributors and developers.
&The BSANZ is affiliated with the BSAA&in Australia, the BSA in the U.S. and&other international organisations&formed to combat software theft and&piracy. The founding members account&for around 75% of the NZ software
market.
THE AIMS OF THE BSANZ ARE
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&To build awareness of copyright law as&it relates to computer software and&compliance with the Copyright Act&through education and information
campaigns;
&To communicate the benefits of users&purchasing and using authorised software;
&If necessary, to initiate legal action&against offenders who breach software
copyright.
&SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT, THE BSANZ HAS&--------------------------------------
&Implemented a national education and&awareness-raising campaign, including&publicity, information brochures,&posters, stickers, public speaking and
seminar presentations;&Maintained a toll-free hotline staffed!by a full-time Inquiries Officer;
&Produced a comprehensive Software&Compliance & Audit Manual and
distributed copies nationally;
&Developed co-operative relationships&with overses organisations including&the BSA in Australia, the BSA in the&U.S. the Federation Against Software&Theft (F.A.S.T.) in the U.K. and the&Software Publishers Association in the
U.S.;
&Developed co-operative relationships&with key industry and government
bodies;
&Taken legal action against several&organisations for serious breaches of
&Under the NZ Copyright Act 1962 and/or&the NZ Crimes Act 1961, it is illegal;
&To copy or distribute software or the&accompanying documentation, including&programs, applications, data, codes,&and manuals, without permission or&licence from the copyright owner (i.e."generally the software developer);
&If it is not a first offence, an&individual can be fined the same&penalty or sentenced for a maximum of&three months imprisonment for EACH&unauthorised copy made or distributed&of an article of software covered by
copyright;
&If an individual is found to be liable&in respect of the Crimes Act 1961, a&jail term of up to 10 years or a&substantial fine will be imposed at&the Court's discretion. Similar&provisions in Australia have resulted
in fines of up to $250,000;
&If an organisation or company is found&guilty of infringing copyright, it&faces the same penalties as an&individual under the Copyright Act&1962. Where a company is found guilty&of a crime under the Crimes Act 1961,&for which a prison term is prescribed,&the Court may at its discretion$substitute a fine for a prison term;
&If an individual, an organisation or a&company is found guilty of receiving&stolen software or software&dishonestly obtained, a prison term of&up to seven years may be imposed (or a&fine substituted for the prison term).
! ILLEGAL DISKS PUT YOU AT RISK! -----------------------------
&Copying computer software, other than&making back-up copies permitted under&licence agreements, is theft and&renders those involved liable to major#penalties and even criminal action.
% COPYING SOFTWARE ILLEGALLY CARRIES A# NUMBER OF RISKS. SOFTWARE THEFT:% ------------------------------------
&Exposes individuals involved to fines&of up to $1,000 and up to 10 years
imprisonment;
&Exposes companies involved to fines&imposed at the discretion of the
Court;
&Reduces the capability of software&companies to provide support and&service as a result of reduced returns&and increased costs (software&companies have to support illegal copies as well as legal copies);
&Reduces profit margins and therefore&software companies capability to&invest in NZ technology, reducing
national competitiveness;
&Threatens the viability of the local&industry (local dealers, didtributors,&and software developers who rely on&sales of legitimate software for their
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