INDUSTRY COMMENT

BSA Focuses Efforts on Internet Piracy

Michael McCormack

The Business Software Alliance will spend the next year cracking down on pirates who use the Internet to distribute copied software, the organization’s legal counsel has revealed. Evan Cox says targeting Net-based pirates is a logical and necessary extension of the BSA’s work shutting down pirate BBS operators: “The Internet is becoming a preferred means of distribution for the pirates because it’s relatively safer than boards.

“The boards are theoretically easier for controlling access but the Internet gives the pirates greater anonymity. Boards tend to become vulnerable as they get bigger and better known because they’re traceable to a specific location. On the Net you’re less likely to be noticed and you can be plugging in from anywhere.

“Tracking pirates on the Net is going to be a difficult challenge so one of the first things we’re going to do is bring together many of the technical experts from our member companies to assess what is the best way forward. We need to become more sophisticated about tracking people through servers, remailers and the IRC. Equally, we’re going to have to form closer relationships with the ISPs to make any kind of enforcement work.

“My own view is that most ISPs will be pleased to give us what assistance they can. There is obviously going to have to be discussion about what kinds of assistance they can give within the terms of their service contracts with customers but I know they would prefer not to see illegal material being distributed from or through their operations.

“We see this as something we have to do to keep the field clear as the industry moves towards electronic product distribution. We don’t ever want it to be possible for someone to present themselves as a genuine distributor while passing off pirate goods.”

Mr Cox has been encouraged by recent moves in Europe to set up specialist law enforcement units with an understanding of computer crime: “We’re “the Internet seeing more countries forming computer and gives the commercial crime units - the Netherlands, France

pirates greater and Spain have all now set anonymity” up such units. It’s more efficient and cost effective for them than training 100 local forces in computer crime.

“It also makes it easier for us to have a regular point of contact when we find evidence of illegal activity - we won’t always be starting from scratch every time there’s crime in a new city. We’ve been fairly successful so far in demonstrating to European police and governments that computer crime needs to be addressed where the market is, not where the publishers are. The response has been uniformly good.

“And there’s now evidence that better enforcement and education does make a difference to the level of pirate goods in use. In the western part of Eastern Europe - places like Poland, “more countries the Czech Republic and Slovakia - forming computer piracy rates are dropping steadily as

and commercial business users and crime units” governments see the benefits of using and promoting legal software. The piracy rates in that region are now comparable to those in neighbouring countries to the west.”

Computer Fraud & Security December 1996 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

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