Enter the "Software Police" -- Serious Business!
December/08/2007 Financial Management
Every small business owner--including photographers--should read the FoxNews.com story entitled "Software 'Police' Accused of Targeting Small Business." The item sheds light on the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the powerful copyright-enforcement agency that supports such software giants as Microsoft and Adobe . . . companies whose software photographers use daily. So it's vital for you to understand the power this organization wields: The article maintains that almost 90% of the $13 million in judgments BSA won against software violators last year came from small businesses.
Yes, I know how irksome it is to deal with software licensing policies that are insanely confusing and inherently frustrating: Last week I found myself unable to use my laptop version of Microsoft Office while I was on the road doing a seminar because I had added another computer to my home network. I was tired of running up and downstairs all day, so I now have iMacs on both floors that ONLY I USE. But what really was troublesome about the episode was the fact that I had already bought and paid for another license for the MS Office products because I knew I needed one for the "third seat," and I had the info required to get the activation code for my laptop with me when I hit the road. But I found myself unable to gain access to the code because I have a new email address, I couldn't find a way to update my record, and the helpful folks on the MS Help Line were "unavailable at this time." So I had to borrow a computer in order to get by until I got home and had time to hunt down a Bill Gates employee. Grrrr . . .
In spite of such aggravations, it would be much worse to have the Business Software Alliance file a legal complaint that could bankrupt your studio. So please . . . do the right thing and pay for the software you use. They are watching us, and this is serious business. The fellow in the Fox News article concluded that that best thing to do is find other companies to deal with that aren't members of the Alliance. That's pretty silly and shortsighted from my perspective. The best thing, I believe, is not to violate copyrights in the first place. Isn't that what we ask our clients to do?