Washington, D.C. – June 28, 2005 – The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association of the software industry, today announced yet another Reward Program payout of $5,000 to an employee who contacted SIIA to report widespread software piracy at his company.

“In the long run, it costs a lot less to keep your software licenses current,” said the source and former employee of the affected company; an Ohio-based design software corporation. “Their decision to test the law cost them far more than keeping legal ever would have.”

SIIA’s Anti-Piracy Reward Program is designed to ensure the accuracy and credibility of reports they receive. Employee tips are an invaluable tool in the fight against software piracy and in exchange for providing detailed information about the extent and type of piracy occurring, and cooperating during SIIA’s investigation, program participants are entitled to a percentage of the fine paid by the offending company.

The source’s position as Operations Director within the company allowed him access to all company computers and he was disturbed by the extent of the software license violations. He repeatedly voiced his concerns to management over the unlicensed software on the company’s computers. However his suggestion that they run a software audit on company workstations and servers to become legal was brushed-off as too expensive.

Frustrated by management’s attitude toward a company-wide software piracy epidemic, he finally decided to report the licensing violations to SIIA. The Reward Program guaranteed his anonymity and offered him a generous payout based on the accuracy of his reports and his degree of cooperation.

Upon receiving the employee’s report, SIIA began a thorough investigation and subsequently confronted the offending company with the allegations. Unable to produce valid license documentation, and facing the possibility of a civil lawsuit by SIIA and its members, the company agreed to settle the case out of court.

SIIA required the company to purchase valid software licenses and adopt and implement internal software usage policies and procedures. The settlement agreement provides that it will not be construed as an admission of liability or fault by either party.

“The unauthorized use of software is a problem that continues to plague small and large companies alike,” said Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA Vice President, Intellectual Property Policy and Enforcement. “We’re pleased to announce this settlement and hope it serves as a reminder to all organizations that software piracy is a serious violation that will result in costly penalties.”

“Years ago, an IT manager at Panasonic told me about SIIA’s anti-piracy work and it stuck with me,” said the source. “When I realized that management was never going to resolve the situation on their own, I knew SIIA was the group to contact. I was initially concerned about safeguarding my job, but SIIA professionally resolved the piracy issue and ensured that my anonymity was protected.”