[lug] Re: [NCLUG] the BSA truce

[John Karns]

On Mon, 5 Feb 2001, Calvin Dodge said:

> "D. Stimits" wrote:
> > 
> > I can't resist...who is this BSA (I already know they suck, but more)?
> 
> The Business Software Alliance (http://www.bsa.org), aka "Microsoft's
> Fund-Raising Arm" (there are reports of companies which were caught using
> copies of non-Microsoft software illegally, and were then told "hey, we won't
> prosecute you if you stock up on Microsoft products").

I remember reading an article a few years back about it in one of the
trade mags - probably InfoWorld.  At that time they reported that a number
of companies were members, such as Novell, WordPerfect, etc., but that MS
was the dominant force.  It was also reported that they were particularly
active here in S.A., and that the tactic was much the same as mentioned
above - switch to MS WNT from Netware, from WP to MSW, etc., and we won't
hurt you.

About 18 months ago they did a surprise inspection of the company I'm
working for.  In this country (Colombia) and I imagine many if not most
other Latin American countries, PC's are almost always sold with a full
complement of OS and apps, always unlicensed.  In fact it's difficult to
get a licensed copy unless you buy it and install it yourself.  So the
company was slapped with a fine, and in addition had to buy bulk
licensing.  In spite of my repeated warnings about it, they had to find
out the hard way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
John Karns                                              jkarns at csd.net

"Those who cast the vote decide nothing; Those who count the vote decide
everything." - Joseph Stalin