| Churches and other organizations
need to be aware that software developers and publishers fund
an organization known as the Business Software Alliance ("BSA"),
located in Washington, D.C. The sole purpose of this organization
is to locate and delete unlicensed software and capture pirates.
According to an article in the National Law Journal, BSA
had 35 hotlines around the world, sometimes working in cooperation
with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department
of Justice, to receive reports of unlicensed software. BSA has
been successful in obtaining many monetary settlements from unauthorized
users. The settlements have also included agreements to delete
the unauthorized software, purchase replacement copies, and develop
a software policy. Many BSA investigations are the result of calls
from disgruntled employees and calls from computer consultants.
If contacted by BSA, provide them an opportunity to voice their
claim, but contact an attorney that specializes in computer law
before responding.
It is recommended that churches and middle governing bodies
conduct periodic software audits to ensure they have a valid
software license for every program on every computer. In addition,
they should adopt a software policy that only specified personnel
are permitted to load software into the employer's computers
and then the program must be licensed unless it is public domain
software.
Downloading copyrighted materials (including photographs) from
or uploading to the Internet without permission of the copyright
owner results in unauthorized copying. The same is true with
regard to transferring copyrighted material to a third party
via email. Do not assume drawings and games are not copyrighted
and can be freely downloaded and used. Check the respective
site's terms of use agreement and copyright policy. |
