We have been giving many examples of companies that had to shell out to vendors after being audited and caught by the BSA. Most of them have been overseas so it didn’t hit as close to home as these next two examples will:
Mueller Services, Inc., of Tonawanda, NY paid $62,270 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe and Microsoft software installed on its computers. The tip came in through the BSA’s reporting website anonymously.
Bankers Warranty Group Inc., of St. Petersburg, FL, paid $70,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec software installed on its computers. This tip also came in through the tip website. Both companies had to agree to delete all unlicensed copies of software on its computers, purchase any licenses necessary to become compliant, and commit to implementing stronger software asset management (SAM) practices.
These folks aren’t messing around. With organizations like the BSA and big clients like Microsoft and Adobe, you had better believe vendor audits will only continue to increase.