It's 'rat out your boss' week in Blighty
WORKERS IN THE UK are being asked turn in their employers to a software industry group for using unlicenced software.
The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has announced a campaign to encourage 'employee whistleblowing' at companies that install software illegally, that is, without paying for it. FAST says its programme has already gained interest with over 500 online inquiries having been logged last month.
In a statement, John Lovelock, the CEO of FAST, claimed that many workers are willing to report the use of dodgy copies of software at their workplaces.
"Our campaign to encourage honest workers to come forward and shock their bosses is designed to let workers know that honest voices can be heard," he said.
Lovelock justified his group's appeal for employees to grass on their bosses on the grounds of fairness to software houses, saying, "Businesses that deliberately seek to install illegal copies of software are taking revenue from developers and workers in the creative industries, and may be committing an offence."
He also claimed that using unlicenced software is not in users' best interests. "For the sake of saving a little money they risk running applications loaded with viruses or substandard versions that won’t let them access customer support when they go wrong," he said.
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has maintained a similar programme in the US for many years. When it audits companies there and finds unlicenced software, it typically extracts 'fines' equal to the cost of the software licences that the targeted firms neglected to buy, after which the companies must of course also pay for those same software licences. µ
Share this:
ShareBusiness Intelligence Software
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Enterprise Accounting Software
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Enterprise Systems Management
being someone who pays for legitimate software, I still use the pirated version as it doesn't have to be activated and have all that uttor B$ that's riddled with operating systems and applications nowadays.
Same with games, I have 2Tb HD...I don't want to have to risk scratching my £35 DVD just cos the game expects it to be a pirated copy, so I just download the NoCD patch.
I don't play online so I don't care about that aspect, but it's the software industry's own fault!
And believe it or not, I am a software developer hahaha!!!
I make software that I would use...which means no copy protection whatsoever!
If someone's gonna pay for something, then they will. If they can't get it for free, it doesn't mean they'll buy it - it just means they won't use it.
MAFIAA/FAST/FACT/TWATS/ just give up and stop leeching money in these hard economic times l0lz0r.
Would that be "come forward and shop their bosses" perhaps? Or he misheard the phrase once and likes it his way better? Mental image of taser incident...
Do this in the USA!!!
With so many companies that arent hurting from the economic downturn but taking advantage of it by issuing pay cuts over and over again only to have CEO's and managers give themselves bigger bonuses. I am sure there are quite a few people here in the USA willing to turn in their supervisors and companies as a payback for cutting their salaries when they are flourishing with new business because of the downturn. You heard me not every company is hurting because of the economic downturn but they are certainly taking advantage of their employees.
Someone should tell FAST that run of the mill copyright infringement doesn't technically qualify as theft. It's a wonder anyone takes these groups seriously.
What do the meetings that cause this stuff sound like? You stay here and beat the peasants while I go to england to press our rights there.
Yes my lord.
It's such a wonderful world. We can actually pretend to evolve and devolve right back to how it was centuries ago just in the blink of an eye.
Or Snatchiee'. Heres another C&P from Hot fingers of Ultee':
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is set to unveil Reference Flow 10.0 for the 28nm process at the upcoming Design Automation Conference (DAC) in July 2009, according to industry sources. The worlds top contract chipmaker is expected to deliver its 28nm process as a full node technology on schedule.
TSMC in September 2008 said its 28nm node, which will offer the option of high-k metal gate (HKMG) and silicon oxynitride (SiON) materials, will enter volume production in the first quarter of 2010. The pure-play foundry has successfully ramped in 40nm, supported by its latest production-proven design infrastructure Reference Flow 9.0.
The sources estimate that 40nm will account for 8-10% of TSMCs total revenues by the end of 2009, and the proportion is likely to reach 15-20% in the second quarter of 2010. TSMCs major customers at 40nm include handset chipmakers, GPU vendors and FPGA chip suppliers
Snitches Wear Little Tiny Circus clown Hats & No hat IS Small enough for Ultee'. Yet Its' Info....
STASI, for short.
Ubuntu
Openoffice
'nuff said...