| License audits: Preparing now can ease the pain |
| Oracle licensing consultant Eliot Arlo Colon still remembers the enormous global publishing company that was "so darn confident" it would breeze through an upcoming software license audit unscathed.But once the company actually dusted off its E-Business Suite contract, it got an ugly surprise.Contrary to long-standing internal belief, the publisher's custom licensing agreement only authorized North American use of the ERP (enterprise resource planning) package, not worldwide, according to Colon, president of Miro Consulting in Woodbridge, New Jersey. |
 |
| North Texas the “Technology Commercialization Center of the USA?” |
| Question: Should North Texas strive to be the “Technology Commercialization Center of the USA?” Answer: A resounding yes. |
|
| Savings cloud risks of outsourcing tech |
| As the popularity of cloud computing increases, companies should be aware of the related liabilities, particularly in the areas of security and data access, experts say. Cloud computing promises cost savings by allowing companies to outsource their information technology infrastructure by using Internet technology to access hardware and software services. The data may be stored in another state or even another country. By taking advantage of economies of scale, the cloud computer provider can make available up-to-date software and computer capacity in a highly cost-effective manner. But the risks of such an approach underscore the need for due diligence in selecting a provider and ensuring safeguards, including insurance coverage. |
|
| Business Software Alliance Dirty Tricks Update |
| As this column winds down (my last one will by 10/28), I've been thinking about the most important issues I've covered over the past years. I rate the Business Software Alliance and its use of extortion tactics based on tips from disgruntled employees at the top of the despicable list. Dangling a cash reward of up to one million dollars encourages a lot of story telling. It makes me mad every time I hear about another small company bludgeoned by these bullies. |
|
| Software license audits come in multiple flavors |
| There are several types of software license audits, each with their own risks and variables, experts say. Trade groups like the Business Software Alliance often ask companies to conduct "self-audits," where customers collect software installation and usage information and report back any instances of noncompliance. Customers who receive a request for a self-audit should consider the benefits of this option, such as more flexibility over its timing, according to Scott & Scott, a Dallas law firm that specializes in software audits. |
|
| Cisco Systems Hit with Antitrust Lawsuit |
| A network maintenance and services firm this week filed an antitrust lawsuit against Cisco Systems Inc., claiming that the networking giant intentionally excludes independent players from servicing its networks. |
|
| MSPAlliance Offers Insurance Specifically Designed For MSPs |
| Managed service providers who find it difficult to obtain affordable insurance for their services can now get help from MSPAlliance, the International Association of Managed Service Providers, according to the group. |
|
| Loss of Customer Data at BNY Mellon Much Bigger Than First Thought |
| A security breach that occurred at the Bank of New York Mellon earlier this year turned out to be three times as large as it initially reported, the bank revealed last Thursday.
The breach involved the loss of unencrypted computer back-up tapes that contained confidential information about 12 million customers of the bank’s shareholder services unit, rather than the 4 million it originally announced. That could triple the company’s cost of dealing with the problem and potentially expand its liability. |
|
| The Hunt for Software Pirates |
| A couple of days ago, I got a message on my home computer purporting to be from Microsoft telling me it wanted permission to download some software onto my machine to verify if I was using a legal copy of Windows. Like a good Boy Scout (former senior patrol leader!), I clicked “yes.” I have no idea if I was communicating with Microsoft or some rogue intent on causing damage to my computer. |
|
| Software Audits: Not a Case of if, But When |
| "There are two types of companies: those that have been audited [for software violations] and those that will be." So says Robert J Scott, managing partner of legal and technology services firm Scott & Scott. Recent settlement fines for software licence violations have topped US$500,000 (NZ$800,000), says Scott, and that's only a small part of the true cost to an audited company. Scott, who has extensive experience defending companies in software audits, spoke with Computerworld's Kathleen Melymuka about your rights and responsibilities. |
|
| Software Raids: Surviving an Audit |
| Why are audits increasing? In short, it’s all about money. With flat IT budgets and increasing competition in every software market, vendors need new revenue streams. |
|
| Security Breach Notification Legislation Will Boost MSPs |
| In the California Senate, it went by the name SB1386. It was A4001 in the New Jersey Assembly. The U.S. House of Representatives calls it HR3997, and the Senate S1789. Whatever the anonymous title, all fall under the category of data security breach notification bills sweeping Capitol Hill... |
|
| MSPs Gamble with the Law |
| News Analysis: MSPs base their entire value proposition on recurring revenue defined by SLAs and other contracts, yet less than 50 percent have those documents prepared by attorneys, leaving MSPs vulnerable. |
|
| Tame Your SLAs |
| Understanding, let alone properly managing, software licensing agreements (SLAs) can be overwhelming, but don't just shrug it off. Enforcement agencies are taking an ever-more aggressive stance on auditing companies' software use and imposing heavy fines on violators. We take a fresh look at the problem and solutions. |
|
| Q&A: BSA’s Informant Fee Hike is a Money-Maker, says Attorney |
| The Business Software Alliance last week increased its cash reward for qualified software piracy leads from $50,000 to up to $200,000. When the BSA announced the change, its director of enforcement, Jenny Blank, said in a statement that the increase reflected BSA’s plans to escalate its fight against software piracy. |
|
| Tying the Knot |
| Live together long enough with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and sooner or later the topic of marriage will come up. Relationships evolve. And the cornerstone of that evolution is security. Whatever the relationship, personal or business, certainty is paramount. |
|
| Under Threat of Litigation: How to Survive a Software Audit |
| "There are two types of companies: those that have been audited [for software violations] and those that will be." So says Robert J. Scott, the managing partner of legal and technology services firm Scott & Scott LLP. |
|
| Stealing Software |
| It began covertly. Someone with inside knowledge of Meritage Corp. quietly contacted the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a trade group that represents some of the country’s biggest software companies, and reported that the homebuilder was using unlicensed software. BSA then demanded Meritage perform a software audit. The results weren’t good. |
|
| The Software Protection Racket, Part 1 |
| Old Mafia movies portrayed the protection racket as almost honorable, and certainly not complicated. If you pay the crime boss some money each week, he made sure other criminals didn't bother you. The new Software Mafia, represented by the Business Software Alliance, isn't honorable or simple. |
|
| The Software Protection Racket, Part 2 |
| Let's get right to the meat of the Business Software Alliance vs. User debate: is your software legal? In my last column I mentioned some of the things you and I would consider proof that we acquired our software legally, such as having the original disks, packing material, and paper or folder with the Registration Key. Answer from the BSA: none of that proves you own your software. |
|
| Business Software Alliance: Outright liars or just truth challenged? |
| Earlier this month, I began talking about the new software Mafia, aka the Business Software Alliance (check out "The software protection racket, Part 1 and Part 2"). Two goals this week: get the BSA to tell me what prompts a software audit, and get Microsoft - one of the primary forces behind the BSA - to define piracy. |
|
| Sound Off - Taking Sides on Critical IT Issues |
| At their best, software audits, during which vendors check a customer's network for unlicensed users, are legitimate procedures that let software companies conduct the kind of due diligence that their business demands. After all, licensing agreements are complicated documents whose restrictions could be misunderstood, either innocently or not so innocently. |
|
| IT Execs on Firing Line over Security Breaches |
| The cost of data breaches may be getting a lot higher for IT professionals who are deemed to be responsible for failing to properly secure corporate information. For example, AOL LLC's chief technology officer abruptly resigned this week in the aftermath of a disclosure that the company had publicly released data on searches done by about 650,000 of its online subscribers. |
|
| SAM Stinks |
| Beware of "helpful" software publishers, because they are out to help themselves, not you. Two stories detail how Microsoft is using their SAM (Software Asset Management) program to squeeze customers. Worse, your friendly reseller may run the SAM engagement as a help to you, then turn you in to Microsoft for any real or imagined license violation. |
|
| Data breaches spark new forms of insurance coverage |
| The spiralling number of high-visibility data breaches has prompted some insurers to offer innovative coverage aimed at helping businesses cope with network and privacy breach liabilities. The question is: Will they buy it? Dugie Standeford reports. |
|
| Dark Day Planning: Insuring Against Data Loss |
| The list of data breaches involving sensitive personal information maintained by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse achieved a significant milestone Dec. 13, as the nonprofit group saw the total number of records exposed in such events crest the 100 million mark. |
|
| How to Respond to a Data Breach, Part 1 |
| The wealthier companies become in data assets, the more attractive they become to attackers. This is why data security requires great attention and investment -- to prevent potential breaches. |
|
| How to Respond to a Data Breach, Part 2 |
| When data loss or unintended exposure occurs, organizations face myriad challenges in communication and crisis management. |
|
| Who’s Uptown? |
| The run is in its 21st year and will be held April 7. Scott said his firm started the Everyone Wins Challenge as a way to reach out to a deserving charity while at the same time getting Uptown residents behind the annual event. |
|
| Using Managed Services for License Compliance |
| Law firm Scott & Scott, of Dallas, is encouraging managed services providers to add software license compliance and asset management to their remote monitoring and management offerings. |
|
| Data Breaches Getting Costly |
| Corporate executives don't seem to be sweating over the increasing size, severity and frequency of data breaches, but they may be ignoring the problem at their--and their companies'--peril. |
|
| Encryption Can Save Data — And a Company Rep |
| With Rob Scott, the managing partner of the law firm of Scott and Scott, LLP. Last month, the firm released a survey it commissioned from the Ponemon Institute on the impact of data breaches. |
|
| Scott & Scott doubling its presence at Chase Tower |
| Dallas-based Scott & Scott LLP has signed a 10-year lease with JPMorgan Chase Tower that will more than double the space the law firm occupies in one of downtown's signature office towers. |
|
| Growing Data Breaches Mean Opportunity for VARs |
| More than 85 percent of organizations in a recent study reported they had experienced a data-breach event--a statistic that represents great pain for businesses that are victims of such breaches, many of which could have been avoided. |
|
| Digital Business: External Audits: Fair Play on Both Sides? |
| The external audit has become one of the most contentious issues in software management and one that is unavoidable for medium-sized and large companies. |
|
| Worker E-mail and Blog Misuse Seen as Growing Risk for Companies |
| Employee misuse of e-mail, blogs, message boards and media-sharing websites posed a significant security risk for publicly traded U.S. companies last year, with 31.8% investigating a suspected violation of privacy or data protection regulations, according to a new survey. |
|
| Spying in the Workplace: Big Money? |
| The Business Software Alliance launched its rewards program in the U.S. in 2005 to encourage individuals with detailed information about software piracy to come forward and confidentially submit the information. Since then, the BSA claims that it successfully settled with hundreds of companies, bringing in nearly $22 million. |
|
| Oracle-SAP Suit Exposes Contract Weaknesses |
| The ongoing legal dispute in which Oracle accuses SAP of "corporate theft on a grand scale" brings to the fore the delicate nature of contractual agreements between software companies. |
|
| Small Business in Cross Hairs of Software Industry Group’s Aggressive Piracy Crackdown |
| WASHINGTON - Michael Gaertner worried he could lose his company. A group called the Business Software Alliance had written him to claim that his 10-person architectural firm in Galveston, Texas, was using unlicensed software. |
|
| Latest Developments in Privacy and Data Security for Financial Institutions |
| The publisher of the Privacy & Data Security Law Journal recently sponsored an audio conference entitled “Latest Developments in Privacy and Data Security for Financial Institutions.” The speakers were Christopher J. Volkmer, the Current Developments columnist for the Privacy & Data Security Law Journal and the managing member of the Volkmer Law Firm LLC, which advises financial institutions, outsourcers, and other businesses in transactions and compliance matters, and Robert J. Scott, the managing partner of Scott & Scott, LLP, a law and technology services firm dedicated to helping senior executives assess and reduce the legal, financial, and regulatory risks associated with privacy, network security, and compliance. |
|
| Software Police Increase Enforcement: Efforts How to Protect Your Company |
| On the corporate high seas, piracy is everywhere. Companies are filled with computers but not enough software. When you cut costs and install programs on more than one workstation, you’re walking a thin plank. |
|
| What to Do When You Receive a BSA Audit Letter |
| The Business Software Alliance is known to be a persistent enforcement agency which rarely grants clemency to organizations once it begins settlement proceedings. The following eight tips are offered by two attorneys who specialize in BSA defense cases; they give advice on what to do once your business receives a letter requesting a BSA audit. |
|
| How to Write an IT Service-Level Agreement |
| Writing an IT service-level agreement (SLA) is important if you're rolling out a services-based line of business, such as managed services. Whereas many resellers may have previously acted only as intermediary between their customers and vendors, more and more are providing service directly -- or at least rebranding services from a managed service provider (MSP) as their own. |
|