Trust Me, You Don't Wanna Be A Pirate - "FREE" Software Costs More Than You Think

We all know a guy who can hook you up with Microsoft Office for free. When it comes to your business, you should reconsider such shady practices. The Software Alliance or BSA (www.bsa.org) is a watchdog company that acts on behalf of some of the largest software vendors in the world to seek out and penalize software pirates. You are considered a pirate if your business owns a computer or device with software that you do not have a dated proof of purchase (i.e. a receipt) from an authorized reseller. This may seem unfair, but this is how The Software Alliance will look at it. The BSA will also reward your employees (rewards can vary, but usually are around 10-15k are paid to whistle blowers) for reporting your company for operating unlicensed software resulting in a settlement. We at Aspire Business Solutions have dealt with The Software Alliance before, but it is almost always too late to avoid heavy fines. You can avoid huge fines (as much as $150,000 per title, per PC) with a little work to audit yourself before they show up. Nobody is perfect, but implementing a Software Asset Management (SAM) policy can save you the cost of accidentally losing software as well as protect you in the event of an audit. It only takes the phone call of one disgruntled former employee to wreak havoc on your bottom line.

Reach out to us if you would like more information on how you can protect your business against a BSA or other software piracy audit.