BSA sues five UK businesses for software piracy

Investigating 300 more

By Drew Cullen • Get more from this author

Posted in Software, 27th September 2001 14:08 GMT

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The BSA is sueing five UK companies for allegedly using unlicensed software, and it has announced legal settlements with five more organisations.

The companies it is suing are:

Baines & Ernst Financial Management - a debt management company;
Climax Development - a video game technology and content developer;
Claranet Limited – an Internet Service Provider;
Hussmann Europe Limited - a provider of merchandising and refrigeration products for the commercial food industry;
Learoyd Packaging - a division of API Group plc

The companies and organisations it has reached settlement with for using unlicensed software are
are:

Price’s Candles, a candle manufacturing company based in London, settled for £9,500
The Trafford Centre, a retail and leisure complex in Manchester, settled for an undisclosed sum
Bousfield Heatons Limited, a printing chemicals manufacturing firm based in Bristol, settled for £65,000
Online Travel Corporation plc, a London based Internet travel technology and distribution business, settled for £40,000
Gloucester City Council settled for £12,000

The BSA says it is currently investigating more than 300 UK organisations for suspected piracy. Most names come through tip-offs (there's a reward of up to £10,000) from disgruntled present and former employees. So we guess the message is: if you can't be honest, make sure you're nice to your staff. ®

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