The Business Software Association (BSA) has revealed that it has secured $150,000 from a Melbourne-based manufacturer in an out of court settlement over alleged use of pirated software.
The anti-piracy organisation said that the amount is the second largest ever damages bill that it has won. However, the BSA refused to disclose the name of the offender citing that anonymity was a part of the agreement.
The company that allegedly used "software products from Autodesk, Adobe and Microsoft without license" was dobbed in by an employee. The employee had to be paid $5,000 by the BSA, but had eventually received $20,000.
BSA Australia co-chair and Microsoft lawyer Clayton Noble confirmed the deal to iTWire.
Noble added that anonymity of offenders is not the usual approach of the organisation.
Noble said, "Our approach is no – we won’t not name companies. We don’t do that -but it’s got to be a commercial decision."
Noble added, "We took the opportunity to have a quick settlement without taking this though the court process. We try to maintain the ability to name and shame, but this time we thought it best to drop the ability to name and shame to secure the settlement quickly."
