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01/10/2005 Archived Entry: "Boycott the BSA"

If you've followed the link to The Onion below, you might have been greeted with this advertisement from the Business Software Alliance: "Parting Gift Ideas for Your Old Employer: $150,000 Fine for Unlicensed Software. Report Software Piracy. Now." I wouldn't dare copy the image file, but while it remains available on their server you can see the advertisement here.

I don't know what this says about the BSA's opinion of Americans' character, but encouraging people to be vengeful snitches seems to be a big part of their strategy. It's particularly noxious because there is no requirement for evidence, and a BSA audit can cost even a 100%-compliant company tens of thousands of dollars. If you're an employer, you should be aware of this potential risk. All it takes is one disgruntled employee, no matter how squeaky clean you are. (Funny how this never gets factored into "Total Cost of Ownership" estimates.)

As for me, I will not buy software from any company that promotes these Stasi-like campaigns (and the legal extortion that follows). I don't think I can boycott all BSA members, since HP is on the list....but I can certainly live without the rest of them.      —brad