Scots firms hit with £44,500 software 'fine'

Published on Tuesday 16 December 2008 20:30

SCOTTISH firms caught using unlicensed software have paid £44,500 in settlement costs to the British Software Association.

Mobile phone firm Total Repair Solutions (TRS) and Perthshire car company John R Weir were found by the BSA to be using unlicensed software on office computers.

The BSA claims that by reducing software piracy by 10 per cent, the UK could generate over 13,600 jobs and contribute 4.4 billion to the UK economy.

Sergio Tansini, chief executive of Renfrewshire-headquartered TRS, said his firm had settled out of court with the BSA for around 20,000.

He claimed that after rapid growth in his company he had been unaware he had not licensed every copy of the Microsoft software used in his office.

Tansini said: "I had a very big Microsoft account and was not aware of the shortfall." The firm also paid around 100,000 to legalise the software.

John R Weir paid a settlement fee of 24,582 after the BSA discovered it the company had installed unlicensed copies of Microsoft, Symantec and Adobe software on a number of office computers.

A company spokesman said: "We were more than happy to work with the BSA after discovering a licensing shortfall on our PCs.

"We have taken major steps to ensure the effective management of our software licenses and would urge other companies to do the same."