BSA collects record $3.5 million from media firm for copyright infringement
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(InfoWorld) - The Business Software Alliance has collected a record settlement of nearly $3.5 million from an international media firm that was usingÂ unlicensed software, the trade group announced Tuesday. The settlement between BSA and the company, which BSA declined to name for legal reasons, followed a criminal complaint the trade group made on behalf of members Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Avid Technology, and Autodesk. The BSA complaint led to police raids on the company's premises last year, the trade group said. BSA did its own investigation of the company's software licenses and alleged copyright infringement. The settlement with the company requires it to delete all unlicensed software products and purchase the licenses for the software it plans to use. The large penalties were the result of an extended period of unlicensed software use, BSA said. "This situation came about because we relied on a single individual to keep us compliant and manage our software assets across multiple-locations during a period of significant expansion," an unnamed source at the company said in a BSA news release. "The management were shocked at the scale of the situation and recognize that by having software management processes and tools in place this could have been avoided." Software from BSA members was "core to this company's business and yet it failed to manage this vital business asset," Robert Holleyman, BSA's president and CEO, said in a statement. "Sadly it is the BSA's experience that companies undergoing periods of rapid growth, as in this case, can overlook software licensing issues." The settlement cost the company significantly more than if it had managed licensed software, Holleyman added.
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A company that illegally provided patients â in particular, athletes â with human growth hormone agreed Tuesday to pay a $10.5 million fine.
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$5bn lawsuit meets its maker Shuka-shuka-shuka-shuka-shuka.â¦
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Viacom Inc. VIAb.N has agreed to  pay a record $3.5 million to settle complaints that it  broadcast indecent material on its radio stations, the U.S.  Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday.
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More than 3.5m programmes were watched using the BBC's iPlayer since 25 December, the corporation says.
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Hollywood's major movie studios said they won a &#36;23.8 million judgment against a California company and its Malaysian owner for operating a Web site that charged customers to download illegally copied movies.
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Janet Jackson at the Superbowl after fellow singer Justin Timberlake ripped off one of her chest plates. Picture:Reuters. The US government&#39;s media watchdog today slapped CBS television with a $US550,000 ($A783
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Black and Radler of milking the US-based media group of at least $85m in a complaint filed in US district court in Illinois.
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Ten top Wall Street firms are sued for $3.5 billion by Overstock.com.
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Credit Suisse First Boston&#39;s Canadian unit must pay regulators C$1.5 million ($1.3 million) to settle accusations that it improperly traded shares of BCE Inc.
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(InfoWorld) - The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has temporarily raised the reward that's part of controversial program encouraging people to report software piracy from $200,000 to $1 million, the trade group announced Monday. The BSA, representing large software vendors such as Microsoft, Apple, and IBM, will pay the sum for accurate reports of software copyright infringement between now and Oct. 2, the trade group said. There are some restrictions on the reward payments. The BSA has also launched a national radio and Internet advertising campaign titled, "blow the whistle." The trade group will also target several states, including California, Texas, Illinois, New York, and Florida over the next year. Since the BSA launched its Rewards program in the U.S. in late 2005, it has reached settlements with hundreds of companies, bringing in nearly $22 million. The retail value of software pirated in the U.S. during 2006 was $7.3 billion, according to a study from IDC. The new reward shows BSA's commitment to fighting software piracy, the trade group said. "Businesses often have a million excuses for having unlicensed software on office computers," Jenny Blank, BSA's director of enforcement, said in a statement. "BSA is now offering up to a million dollars for employees who turn them in." Businesses caught with unlicensed software can pay up to $150,000 per violation. Critics of the program say it encourages disgruntled former employees to snitch on companies. "In recent years the relationship between software publishers and businesses has become increasingly acrimonious," says a paper cowritten by Robert Scott, a partner in Scott & Scott, a law form specializing in defending BSA cases. "Software publishers are frequently approaching their customers making allegations that include violations of federal copyright laws and breach of software license contracts."
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The company that ran competitions for GMTV is fined a record Â£250,000 over a phone-in scandal.
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Broadcaster has agreed to pay a record $3.5M to erase a number of proposed radio indecency fines, including one against the "Opie & Anthony Show" and another against shock jock Howard Stern.- The Washington Post
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The music industry is asking 50 Ohio University students to pay $3,000 each to avoid lawsuits accusing them of pirating songs off the Internet.
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BSA gives its definition of 'success' The BSA claims its month-long campaign to clamp down on software piracy in Glasgow is a âmajor successâ â despite uncovering just 41 potential pirates after haranguing thousands of businesses by letter.â¦
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An auction of more than 700 items belonging to singer and actress Cher raised over $3.5 million -- more
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Fidelity National Information Services, a financial processing company, said Tuesday a worker at one of its subsidiaries stole 2.3 million consumer records containing credit card, bank account and other personal information.