Seattle High on Business Software Alliance's Anti-Piracy Radio Campaign Scott & Scott, LLP Recommends Seattle Businesses Prepare for Inevitable BSA Audit

BSA |The Software Alliance is targeting the Seattle, Washington area for software piracy tips making the city a top ten focus as evidenced by the number of three monitored BSA radio spots according to Adscope™. Intellectual property and technology law firm, Scott & Scott, LLP, suggests Seattle business owners and executives be proactive by taking an Audit Readiness Assessment.

Southlake, Texas (PRWEB) December 18, 2012

“Report software piracy confidentially and you may also be eligible for a cash reward” is the BSA |The Software Alliance call to action for whistleblowers to expose current and former employers as software pirates. Seattle ranked in the top ten in the nation in the number of BSA radio ads of three monitored spots by Adscope™, a media research service.

“In many instances, the informant is the same person responsible for software compliance at the company they are reporting”, according to Robert J. Scott, Managing Partner, of Scott & Scott, LLP. That fact, coupled with the promise not to disclose the informant's name leads the Texas-based intellectual property and technology law firm to believe that the BSA, a global software industry trade group, whose members include Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, and Autodesk, is incentivizing non-compliance to generate revenue.

While Scott & Scott, LLP understands the BSA | Software Alliance's desire to protect the intellectual property rights of its software publisher members, we believe the BSA has done nothing to simplify or standardize the license agreements of its member companies, which are all unique, lengthy and complex. This leaves the onus of compliance entirely on software customers – the very customers that the software publishers actively pursued to generate revenue originally.

Scott & Scott, LLP recommends companies prepare for the inevitable BSA software audit. To see if you are ready for a software ready, take this Audit Readiness Assessment:

• Does your organization conduct routine discovery on 100% of its desktops, laptops and servers?
• Can your organization conduct on short notice a complete reconciliation correlating all installed software to appropriate proofs of purchase?
• Has your organization implemented appropriate electronic controls to prevent unauthorized software-title proliferation?
• Has your organization implemented well-defined processes for retaining and retrieving software licenses and invoice documents?
• Do you always obtain a confidentiality agreement from IT consultants and employees?

Companies that have effectively mitigated the risks of software audits can answer “yes” to the above questions. Being proactive can save headaches and expense. Ignoring audit readiness can result in very costly consequences.

About Scott & Scott, LLP (http://www.scottandscottllp.com) (http://www.software audit.com) (www/bsadefense.com) is a leading law and technology services firm representing businesses in matters involving software licensing. Scott & Scott's legal and technology professionals provide software audit defense and software compliance solutions, all protected by attorney-client and work-product privileges.

Robert Scott, a recognized expert on software compliance and defense, is available for interviews.
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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/12/prweb10250088.htm