Digital Discourse / Anti-Piracy

SIIA’s Corporate End-User Anti-Piracy Program: 2011 in Review

February 13, 2012 By Keith Kupferschmid Leave a Comment

In the last year, 24 companies settled software and content infringement cases with SIIA through its Corporate Anti-Piracy Program, which combats software and content piracy in the workplace. SIIA received 197 reports of alleged corporate end user software piracy in 2011. Of the 197 reports, 46 (or 23%) were judged sufficiently reliable to pursue, illustrating SIIA’s conservative approach. Nearly 84% of the reports were made online on SIIA’s web reporting forms, and 12% were reported through SIIA’s Anti-Piracy hotline. The remaining share came in through fax, e-mail and postal mail.

Most reports come from former IT staff – these are the people who typically witness the illegal use of software firsthand. 78% of all reports come from IT staff or managers and 22% from the company’s senior management. More than 52% of those reporting are no longer employed by the target company. In fact, many of SIIA’s sources report that their primary reason for leaving the target company was the company’s lack of ethical behavior related to compliance.

Cases are not concentrated by industry – 17% involved retail and education while 8% involved IT. Most corporate cases pursued by SIIA represent mid-size companies – the average number of employees is over 650 with average annual sales of nearly $26 million.

According to SIIA enforcement audits, 38% of the software audited was found to be unlicensed. The category with the largest percentage of software titles pirated is Security software. This share is the percent of total titles audited in each category that were found to be unlicensed. The share of pirated software varies by category.

Software type and share of pirated titles from SIIA audits in 2011:
Security: 34%
Utilities: 22%
Creative: 21%
Document Management: 16%
Media Management: 4%
Accounting: 1%
Development: 1%
Productivity: 1%
Other: 1%

SIIA receives reports from people who are aware of organizations that have illegal software or content installed or are illegally distributing content or software within or outside the organization. These reports come in one of three ways: through SIIA’s website at www.siia.net/piracy/report, by e-mail at piracy@siia.net or calls to SIIA’s Anti-Piracy hotline at (800) 388-7478. Those who report piracy may be eligible for a reward through SIIA’s Reward Program – paying up to $1,000,000 for verifiable reports of corporate piracy. In 2011, SIIA paid out 14 rewards totaling $73,000.

See the full 2011 Anti-Piracy Year in Review.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.
 

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy

Swirl of Activity Around Online Copyright Infringement Legislation as Congress Returns

January 18, 2012 By David LeDuc

As Congress heads back into session this week, substantial activity continues to swirl around legislation to curb online copyright infringement. The Administration announced a position on legislation, indicating that it had reservations on provisions that would impose DNS blocking, but committing to passage of legislation this year. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), lead sponsors of the legislation, last week announced that they would be dropping DNS blocking from the House and Senate versions of the bill, but indicated that they wanted to press forward with the modified legislation.

Lamar Smith said that the markup on the legislation would resume in his House Judiciary Committee in early February. Meanwhile, Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Internet Caucus co-chair and a key supporter of the legislation, indicated yesterday in his remarks at the State of the Net Conference that any successful legislation would have to have buy-in from both content and tech companies and suggested bringing the sides together to negotiate their differences. Also last week, a group of Republican Senators wrote to Majority Leader Harry Reid asking that the legislation not be brought up for a procedural vote when the Senate returns next week, citing the need to examine the effect of the bill on cybersecurity. As of January 18, however, the bill remained on the Senate schedule for a procedural vote on January 24.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Digital Policy Roundup, Policy Tagged With: ,

D.C. Court Decision is a Victory for Piracy Whistleblowers and the First Amendment

January 18, 2012 By Laura Greenback Leave a Comment

The D.C. Court of Appeals ruled last week that a person who reported alleged software piracy to SIIA is entitled to remain anonymous, a decision that sets a First Amendment precedent that will protect people who report piracy or other alleged corporate misconduct.

The case centered on the efforts of Solers Inc. to unmask an anonymous informant who had accused it of software piracy and filed a report with SIIA. Solers, a Virginia-based technology company, complained of defamation, and served a subpoena upon SIIA that demanded the identity of the informant.

SIIA contested the subpoena, noting that in the two-decade history of its anti-piracy program, it has never disclosed the identity of any informant that wished to remain anonymous. SIIA asserted that Solers’ allegations did not trump the anonymous speech rights of the informant, and the appellate court agreed, ruling that Solers’ allegations of defamation were insufficient to overcome the First Amendment rights of an individual (“John Doe”) to engage in anonymous criticism.

The appellate decision is an important vindication of the First Amendment speech rights of informants or whistleblowers. SIIA’s sources take risks in reporting software piracy and we take very seriously the significant concerns they may have about their identities being disclosed. As the Solers case demonstrates, SIIA will stop at nothing to protect the identities of those who report software and content piracy to SIIA in confidence.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

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SIIA Issues $35,000 in Anti-Piracy Rewards in Fourth Quarter

January 10, 2012 By Laura Greenback Leave a Comment

SIIA paid $35,500 in anti-piracy rewards during the final quarter of 2011, among the highest in any quarter since the program’s inception. The rewards went to five people who reported cases of significant workplace end-user software or content piracy.

The workplace is a major battlefield in the fight against piracy, and SIIA’s mission is to identify and stop businesses that profit from software and content they are not authorized to use. We rewarded five individuals who saw significant illegal piracy in the workplace and took action to stop it.

The information these sources provided has allowed SIIA to launch several new investigations and continue the industry’s most aggressive campaign against software and content piracy.

Our Corporate Anti-Piracy Program seeks verifiable tips in order to investigate and stop software and content piracy occurring within an organization. Since the reward program began in 2003, no other trade association has given out more rewards in an effort to combat software and content piracy.

SIIA protects the identities of whistleblowers—making it safe for individuals to report software and content piracy in their workplaces.

One anonymous reward recipient who provided valuable information said, “Thanks to SIIA, the process of reporting software piracy was simple, thorough and secure. I was able to make a difference and, in a small way, help crack down on the illegal use of computer software.”

“I was forced to use illegal software in order to do my job and support my family,” continued the source. “I felt ‘guilty by association.’ It bothered me that they were profiting from the software and never felt obligated to purchase it.”

Corporate piracy often occurs when software has been installed or content is being copied and/or distributed by an organization that does not have a license, or has insufficient licenses from the publisher. Through our Anti-Piracy Reward Program, SIIA offers rewards to eligible individuals who report verifiable instances of corporate software or content piracy. Rewards range from $500 for a settlement of $10,000, to $1 million for cases with settlement amounts over $20 million.

How to Report Corporate Software or Content Piracy
Sources can report corporate software piracy by e-mail (piracy@siia.net), telephone (1.800.388.7478), or the Internet (www.siia.net/piracy/report). Usually the source is a current or former employee of the firm, an SIIA member company representative, vendor, or a person with first-hand knowledge about a company’s IT operations.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, SIIA News

The Top 10 SIIA Developments of 2011

January 5, 2012 By Laura Greenback Leave a Comment

SIIA had a groundbreaking 2011. We built influence in Washington, released incisive reports, welcomed new members, and hosted dozens of events around the world. Check out photos from our events and read about our 10 most exciting developments of 2011:

1. Patent reform (finally!) passes – The first comprehensive patent reform in half a century was signed into law Sept. 16. SIIA and its members worked diligently toward this goal for over six years, over the course of three Congresses and two administrations. The bill’s passage represents a significant victory for the software and content industries. It will improve patent quality and reduce–though certainly not eliminate–wasteful litigation over bad patents.

2. Software CEOS predict the future – SIIA took the pulse of chief executive officers to unveil growth and innovation drivers across the software industry. The result was a groundbreaking publication, Vision from the Top, which offers the collective wisdom of 45 SIIA member CEOs. Many of the predictions converged around the future of mobile, cloud and social media.

3. Two markets defined – SIIA’s membership divisions released two market reports in 2011 that shed light on the size and scope of its industries. The Education Division unveiled the 2010 U.S. Educational Technology Industry Market: PreK-12 Report at the Ed Tech Business Forum in November. First in a series, it values the overall market for PreK-12 non-hardware educational technology at $7.5 billion dollars—with content-related products accounting for 42 percent of that revenue. The Software Division released its annual Software Benchmarking Industry Report, which found that small and mid-sized software companies saw significant revenue growth rates of 26-50 percent in 2010.

4. Major cloud policy agenda established – SIIA has long been a supporter of cloud computing as a driver for innovation and economic growth.  In 2011, we took major steps to encourage an effective policy environment to help make this a reality.  To that end, SIIA published a whitepaper for policymakers to explain how cloud computing works and identify its transformative benefits. The policy team also gave input for the EU Cloud Consultation, promoted federal legislation to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and worked closely with Obama Administration officials to advance their Cloud First Policies.

5. New members welcomed – SIIA welcomed dozens of new members in 2011, bringing its total membership to 512. One key area of growth was the Financial Information Services Division’s launch of a new constituency group for credit rating agencies. The group, formed initially by Moody’s Investors Services, Fitch Ratings, and Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, welcomed participation of other SEC-registered credit rating agencies around the world.

6. Digital education gets a boost – States from West Virginia to Florida led the K-12 education shift from print to digital instructional content, passing new laws long advocated by SIIA, which modernize outdated state textbook adoption programs. Texas SB6 provides full local flexibility to purchase digital content and technology, while Florida HB2120 will require schools to spend more than half of their textbook budget on digital materials by 2015-16.

7. Big rewards for piracy whistleblowers – SIIA paid $35,000 in rewards during the month of December alone to five people who reported cases of corporate end-user software or content piracy. The SIIA Corporate Anti-Piracy program uses verifiable tips to launch piracy investigations of cases of piracy that take place within an organization.

8. The higher ed market, demystified – 10 doctors, 5 college professors, 4 MBAs, 3 attorneys, 2 Harvard physicists: they all came together, along with dozens of others including CTOs, CEOs and VPs to create SIIA’s newest publication, The Experts’ Guide to the Postsecondary Market.  The resource offers expert guidance on everything from product development to selling in the postsecondary marketplace. Several authors discussed their key takeaways in a video series.

9. Visionary leaders present – Some of the leading voices in the software and digital content industries spoke at SIIA events in 2011. ProQuest CEO Marty Kahn turned heads with his frank discussion of challenges in the digital content landscape at the Information Industry Summit. Dr. Richard Sims, Chief Economist for the National Education Association, was back by popular demand at the 2011 Ed Tech Business Forum, where he followed up on the bleak economic predictions he made in 2009. Other standout speakers in 2011 were Robert Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy for the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley at the World Financial Information Conference, Jim Whitehurst, President & CEO at RedHat at All About the Cloud, and Chris C. Kemp, CTO for IT at NASA, at Cloud/Gov.

10. Excellence recognized – SIIA recognized achievements in the software and digital content industries through a series of awards programs in 2011. Some highlights:

  • The 26th annual CODiE Awards presented 66 awards in digital content, education technology and business software.
  • The Content Division recognized RapidBuyr as the SIIA Previews Program’s “Most Likely to Succeed” at the 2011 Information Industry Summit.
  • The Education Division’s Innovation Incubator Award winners for 2011 were Fluidity Software, Footsteps2Brilliance, GiftedSpeech, and Capstone Digital.
  • On a personal level, FISD presented the Market Data Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Joseph Kasputys, founder and former chairman, president and CEO of global information company IHS Global Insight.
  • The Education Division honored Kathy Hurley, senior vice president of strategic partnerships for Pearson and the Pearson Foundation, with its prestigious Ed Tech Impact Award.


Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Content, Education, Policy, Policy - Cloud Computing, Software Tagged With: ,

This Week’s Top IP Enforcement Headlines

December 22, 2011 By Keith Kupferschmid Leave a Comment

USTR: Piracy, Counterfeiting Abroad is Thriving (National Journal)
USTR released a new report outlining the most notorious intellectual property infringers based outside the United States.

Gripe Site PissedConsumer.com Wins Round in Lawsuit (MediaPost News)
Two companies are claiming trademark violations and are attempting to force a gripe site to change the way it encodes reviews in order to make them less prominent in search engine results.

RIAA ‘Report Card’ Gives Google Low Marks for Anti-Piracy Efforts (Wired)
The Recording Industry Association of America claims Google is not keeping its promises and doing enough to fight online piracy.

Yahoo Denies Infringing Singapore Press Holdings’ Copyright, Countersues (Bloomberg)
Yahoo, Inc., accused by Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. of reproducing news content without its permission, denied infringing copyright laws and countersued the newspaper publisher.

Trade Body Says HTC is Violating Apple Patent, Bans Some Imports (All Things D)
The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Taiwanese cellphone maker HTC infringed on two claims related to an Apple patent, and ordered an import ban on some of the company’s products.

British Telecom Sues Google Over Android (and Almost Everything Else) (ZDNet)
The world’s oldest telecoms company, BT, is suing Google over a patent violation that affects a wide array of Google’s services.

‘Wolverine’ Pirate Gets One Year in Prison (Reuters)
Gilberto Sanchez was sentenced to one year in federal prison after pleading guilty to uploading a workprint copy of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” to Megaupload.com approximately a month before the film’s theatrical release.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

 

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy - Intellectual Property

Judiciary Presses Forward with SOPA; White House Unveils IT Reforms

December 13, 2011 By David LeDuc Leave a Comment

December continues to be anything but a slow month in Washington. Yesterday, House Judiciary Cmte. Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) confirmed his plans to markup the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3261). In addition to scheduling the markup, Smith released a revised version of the bill that reflects weeks of working closely with stakeholders and other members “to strengthen the bill and address legitimate concerns from groups who are interested in working with Congress to combat foreign rogue websites.” Changes to the revised bill as highlighted by Committee staff include: elimination of the redirection clause for infringing websites, orders for an interagency report on the domain name system, addition of a new clause to relieve Web firms of monitoring sites, and clarification of the definitions re: which sites and companies are covered.

Last week, Federal CIO Steve VanRoekel made several important announcements regarding ongoing efforts to reform federal IT and embrace cloud computing. In what he characterized as a “year of change in Federal IT,” VanRoekel declared that “cloud computing has become an integral part of the government’s IT DNA,” and made the following announcements:

1. Released a memo to formally establish FedRAMP (the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program), a long-anticipated program intended to reduce the duplicative efforts, inconsistencies and cost inefficiencies when assessing and authorizing cloud systems.
2. Released the Shared Strategy Memo to provide the roadmap for agencies to increase use of shared solutions through leveraging tools to do more with less, in accordance with the cloud-first policy and cloud migrations under the IT Reform plan.
3. Released the TechStat Report highlighting tools and practices for agencies to turn around or terminate failing projects at the agency-level.

And tomorrow, the House Energy and Commerce Sbcmte. on Communications and Technology has scheduled a hearing to air concerns by the growing list of U.S. lawmakers regarding the pending roll-out of ICANN’s Top-Level Domain Name Program. This hearing follows a similar one by the Senate Commerce Committee last week where Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and other Cmte. members warned ICANN officials to proceed with caution and head their voices of concern.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.

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