Software Alliance to Pay $10,000 To Tipster for Reporting Piracy

• An Australian company will be paying AU$160,000 as part of a piracy settlement to the Software Alliance.
• Software Alliance is responsible for reporting piracy to companies like Apple, Microsoft, and other major software brands.
• Software Alliance received information from a tipster who will be receiving $10,000.

The Software Alliance has received a tip about piracy activities by an unnamed Australian software company, which led to the anti-piracy outfit winning an AU$160,000 settlement. The tipster will be receiving an AU$10,000 reward.

The Software Alliance has been quite impactful when it comes to representing a number of major software companies including the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, Adobe and many others. The anti-piracy outfit’s activities often lead to the audits of thousands of businesses across the world. Business owners who fail to acquire legitimate licenses end up paying hefty fines.

While the intentions of the Software Alliance are lawful, its means of evidence collection and other practices have raised many eyebrows. The organization actively encourages people to report their companies if they spot software piracy at their workplaces. Tips from people are solicited, and the Alliance follows up through its own investigation or audit.

If the Software Alliance identifies any unlicensed software, companies enter into a settlement. The informant who helped the Alliance receive a settlement revealed in a statement “We work in a competitive industry, and while we’re all trying to get ahead, it didn’t feel right using infringing copies of software to give the business an unfair competitive advantage. The decision to report the business ultimately came down to my personal morals and ethics. I don’t believe it’s right to use the software without paying for it.”

The informant is not the first to receive a reward from the Software Alliance. The anti-piracy outfit actively pays out hefty amounts of cash to tipsters who lead to high-value settlements. The BSA was established by Microsoft in 1988, and it has been an active member of the International Intellectual Property Alliance.

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