BSA study is a ‘decoy’
p2pnet.net News:- Cambridge professor Ross Anderson, chairman of the Foundation for Information Policy, says a BSA (Business Software Alliance) ‘study’ is ’scaremongering’.
The BSA recently released an ‘independent’ report designed to prove that counterfeiting, which it calls piracy, is causing huge losses and is demanding that Britain implements the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, adopted by the EU last year.
Member states have two years to adopt the directive’s provisions into national law.
But Anderson says the BSA is, “focusing on the issue of unlicensed software as a decoy, while companies are actually more likely to use the enforcement directive to crack down on legal activities such as grey market trading,” according to ZDNet UK, which explains that in grey market trading, which is entirely legal, companies or individuals circumvent the authorised channels of distribution to sell goods at a lower price than intended by the manufacturer in a certain market.
"What companies object to isn’t counterfeiting but grey marketing," it has Anderson saying. "Counterfeiting is a complete distraction – it’s not what this is about. [The directive] is an assault on free trade."
Anderson says the directive criminalises intellectual property infringement, rather than treating it as a civil offence.
“This means that a company accused of copyright infringement could have their stock seized as evidence or their bank accounts frozen,” says ZDNet. “This could impact companies that are merely trying to make products that interoperate with their competitors’ products, such as companies that make replacement printer cartridges or manufacture games for a particular games console, according to Anderson.”
A BSA spokesman is quoted as saying the Enforcement Directive is needed to tackle software ‘pirates’.
Recently, three men who belonged to a software collector group were jailed as part of a five-year, spare-no-expense attack by BSA owners, who include Microsoft.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
‘independent’ report - BSA ‘piracy’ figures, p2pnet, May 18, 2005
ZDNet UK – BSA ‘piracy’ report dismissed as scaremongering, May 19, 2005
spare-no-expense – www.drinkordie.com, p2pnet, May 11, 2005
May 20th, 2005 at 3:35 pm
BSA … RIAA … CRIA …
All a bunch of idiots trying to pass laws for their own interests, not to mention, Microsoft Windows is starting to fade away while companies start looking at “open source” alternatives.
May 21st, 2005 at 4:34 pm
Some of us have been fighting the battle against the alphabet soup empire for more than a decade. I hope that the current obvious empire is making people consider joining the rebel alliance and move away from the dark side.
What does this mean? First, I saw episode III last night so I’m talking funny. Secondly, it means that people need to use their power as consumers and purchase products/services using methodologies which they recognize will benefit them in the future. That means dumping “software manufacturing” software in favor of Open Source, it means dumping CRIA/CMPDA entertainment, not promoting these companies by “sharing” their entertainment, and switch the the variety of alternatives that are forming.
Unauthorized sharing of the “products” of the empire only gives them more power. It does not hurt them, no matter how much they lie to the media. The only way to hurt them is to move away completely.
Use the Source, Luke…