Business still unsure about software licensing

A whopping 42 percent of Australian businesses that responded to a recent survey indicated they did not have the correct software licenses while 52 percent had no idea whether employees had downloaded or made illegal copies of software.

The survey, conducted by the Business Software Association of Australia (BSAA), also found that only 38 percent of the 194 respondents have a clear company policy on software use and management, which the BSAA said is 'alarming as the risk of viruses and security breaches continues to increase.'

Brisbane company In Learning was reported to the BSAA for illegal software use and was forced to pay a $45,000 settlement.

In Learning staff had downloaded illegal MP3 files and unlicensed software and shareware, according to the BSAA.

Since then, it had conducted an audit process, written a company policy on software management and has benefited 'from a $650 saving in bandwidth fees extrapolated over the next 12 months,' said company director Richard Gordon.
'We will also be able to reduce our upgrade fees by tens of thousands of dollars simply because we accurately know what software we have and require,' he said.