The following articles and publications will provide additional background about Scott & Scott, LLP’s software audit practice and the services we provide. Just click on a link to view the full text.

Software audits: not a case of if, but when
Kathleen Melymuka
“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.

BSA Targets Law Firm Software Pirates
Tom Collins
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a trade group whose members include the likes of Microsoft, Adobe and Computer Associates. The BSA's job is to protect the property and financial interest of members by identifying and recovering damages from organizations using the unlicensed property (software) of their members. And they are aggressive—encouraging disgruntled employees to blow the whistle. Virtually any business, including law firms, is at risk. Even with good intentions, you are likely to have software installed and in use on your computer equipment for which you do not have a license or do not have the BSA’s level of required proof of purchase.

Oracle-SAP suit exposes contract weaknesses
Kathleen Lau
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.

CIO.com
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.

Dallas Business Journal
Some software police tactics are questionable
Over the past several years, software trade associations like the Business Software Alliance and the Software & Information Industry Association have aggressively pursued businesses around the nation, accusing them of software piracy. The outcome of this pursuit for many enterprises is significant fine money, the need to purchase additional software licenses at inflated prices and meaningful damage to their brands.

InsideCounsel.com
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.

Computerworld
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.

Yahoo! Finance
SIIA Launches Auction Litigation Program, Targets Online Auctions Selling Pirated Software
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), working on behalf of its member companies, filed three lawsuits today in the US District Court, Central District of California, charging that at least three separate defendants knowingly sold pirated software through the popular online auction site eBay.

InformationWeek
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.

CIO.com
Do Vendors Use Software Audits to Scare Up New Contracts?
There are several items to be concerned about when facing an audit from a software publisher. Software Licenses are permissive documents - they explain what you are permitted to do.

Software & Information Industry Association
SIIA's Corporate Anti-Piracy Rewards Program Awards Two Whistleblowers $5000 Each
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association of the software industry, today announced that they awarded two whistleblowers $5000 apiece...

Software & Information Industry Association
SIIA Issues latest Anti-Piracy Rewards Program award to Whistleblower
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...

CFO Magazine
Can I See Your Receipt?
December was a bad month for software pirates. Nathan Peterson, accused of selling millions of dollars' worth of vastly discounted software via the Web, pleaded guilty to two counts of copyright infringement and agreed to pay more than $5 million in restitution...

Software & Information Industry Association
SIIA Assists DOJ in Software Pirate's Conviction
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association of the software industry, today congratulated the U.S. Department of Justice, United States Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein and the many other law enforcement officials who helped secure a guilty plea from Dashiell Ponce de Leon.

Software & Information Industry Association
SIIA Unveils New Anti-Piracy Slogan
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association of the software and digital content industry, today rolled-out their new anti-piracy slogan, “It’s More than a Copy; It’s a Crime.”

Richmond.com
Watch Your Back
Open a newspaper or magazine -- inside will be an article on a business in crisis. It would be exciting for any entrepreneur to be featured in Fortune Magazine, wouldn't it?