Some 43,000 companies have until tomorrow complete a Software Audit Return (SAR) form that is designed to reveal if companies are running software without the necessary licences.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) scheme (http://www.bsa.org/return) isn't mandatory but is designed to raise awareness of the importance of good software asset management. Apparently

Using a self-audit tool from the BSA companies and organisations have been able to check their systems to see what software they have running and ensure that their licences are up to date.

The BSA reckons that one in four of all business software is illegal. ®