BSA, Nasscom wins largest copyright case in India

BANGALORE: Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Nasscom today announced a

court settlement with NextLinx India Pvt. Ltd., the Bangalore based subsidiary

of NextLinx Corp., USA, for using unlicensed software. The settlement includes

damages of US $30,000, complete legalization of software used by them, removal

of all unlicensed/pirated software and submission to an unannounced audit of

computer systems during the next 12 months.

A civil raid was conducted at the premises of NextLinx in December 2000,

leading to inspection and impounding of 40 PCs, carrying illegal unlicensed

software. This is the largest corporate piracy case ever brought by BSA and

NASSCOM in India and the first civil raid against an organization of this size.

The damages of US $ 30,000 by NextLinx is also the largest settlement amount for

a Copyright case in India.

BSA and Nasscom also announced settlement with New Delhi- based,

International Print-O-Pack, for the infringement of copyright on a range of its

member software titles including Adobe Pagemaker and Adobe Photoshop.

International Print-O-Pack has undertaken not to use any unlicensed software in

future and Adobe Systems Inc. has been granted the right to conduct an

unannounced software audit on Print-O-Pack’s premises in the next 12 months.

"BSA and its members are committed to protecting their intellectual

property rights," said, BSA vice-president, Vanessa Hutley. "These

settlements send a clear message to all organisations using illegal or

unlicensed software that they can no longer assume that they can get away with

not purchasing legal software."

"India’s software piracy rate is about 59 per cent and this represents

retail losses of Rs 900 crore," said, Nasscom chairman, Phiroz Vandrevala.

"Intellectual property is the lifeblood of software industry and protecting

it is essential, given the contribution the software industry can make to the

Indian economy."

Business Software Alliance and Nasscom have launched a nation-wide campaign

in India against illegal use of software. Over the next few months, BSA and

Nasscom are conducting a series of seminars across the country for organisations

to manage their software assets and lower their cost of software ownership.

Through this campaign, BSA and Nasscom are calling on all organizations to

review the use of software and ensure that they use legal software on their PCs.

"Our current nation wide enforcement and education campaign will focus

on generating awareness on legal software usage and will help in curbing

software piracy." added Vanessa Hutley.

Phiroz Vandrevala said, "India’s Copyright Acts one of the toughest in

the world. The Act provides for liability not only for the company but also for

individuals in the company management, where the company has infringed

copyright." He further added, "Managers and Directors must take

responsibility to ensure that their company is not unknowingly using or

installing unlicensed software or they may face claims under the Copyright Act.

This in itself should be a deterrent."

BSA and Nasscom also conduct a program in which they encourage people to

report incidents of software piracy by calling the BSA Nasscom anti-piracy

hotline number, 1600 — 334455.