BSA (The Software Alliance)

The BSA | The Software Alliance (BSA ) is an international trade association established in 1988 by software vendors. The BSA represents its members through lobbying in the areas of copyright and license GNU trading software. By 2012, her name " Business Software Alliance ( BSA) " was.

Worldwide BSA members include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Bentley Systems, Borland, Cisco Systems, Corel, CNC Software / Mastercam, HP, IBM, Intel, Internet Security Systems, Intuit, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates, PeopleSoft, RSA Security, SolidWorks, Sybase, Symantec, Trend Micro, UGS PLM Solutions and VERITAS Software.

German BSA members include: Attachmate, Nemetschek, O & O Software, and SAP.

Activities of the BSA

An essential activity of the BSA is to identify companies that use incorrect Licensed Software, and to engage in processes. According to the latest information provided by the BSA more cases could be handled in terms of investigation and prosecution of unlicensed software use in Germany. The total number of computers that were targeted by BSA - determination activities, according to a press statement by the BSA increased from 2,900 to over 11,000. As a result, in 2004 turned in about 400 cases, the law enforcement authorities to the BSA ( 2003: 350). The number of cases concluded by the BSA had increased by around 190 percent, and in 2004 lie at 740 (2003: 256).

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the BSA is headed by Mr. Georg life, Director Central and Eastern Europe.

Doubts about the strategy of the BSA members

Whether this persecution of companies that do not use properly licensed software, actually ultimately leads to more sales for manufacturers of proprietary software, is questionable. For insiders, is to hear that the uncertainty which results from the campaigns of BSA, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises strongly leads to a higher acceptance hazardous open-source alternatives. However, the main concern of the industry association is not the marketing of its members, but rather the creation of a legal environment in which the different licensing models ( including open source models that are represented by a few large BSA members such as IBM) with each other in fair competition can occur. The BSA recommends employees of companies that use black copies to blacken them, but has never indicated that this may be a reason for termination, if the employee has not previously initially informed his superiors of the illegal use of software in operation.