The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the global organization representing the nation’s leading software manufacturers, announced that it will intensify efforts to battle software piracy in the workplace by increasing its current rewards incentive from $200,000 to $1 million from July to October 2007.

This unprecedented increase by the BSA highlights the software organization’s commitment to fighting software piracy in U.S. businesses. According to an independent study conducted by the International Data Corps. (IDC), the information technology (IT) industry’s leading global market research and forecasting firm, the U.S. suffered $7.3 billion in losses in 2006 resulting from software piracy.

The BSA Rewards program was launched in the U.S. in the fall of 2005. The program encourages individuals with detailed information about software piracy to come forward and confidentially submit the infringement(s). Since the 2005 launch of the Rewards program, BSA has successfully settled with hundreds of companies, bringing in nearly $22 million as a result.

Software piracy is against the law and affects thousands of businesses nationwide, costing millions of dollars in tax revenues and lost jobs. It can result in fines of up to $150,000 for each software title copied and increases the risk for security and technical complications. An independent study* shows that 21 percent of software in the United States is unlicensed.

BSA