The U.S. Navy was found guilty of piracy and is ordered to pay a software company $154,400 for a lawsuit filed back in 2016. The company, Bitmanagement Software GmbH, filed a complaint against the Navy, accusing the military branch of copyright infringement.

GmbH claimed they had issued 38 copies of their 3D virtual reality software, BS Contact Geo, but while they were still in negotiations for additional licenses, the Navy installed the software onto at least 558,466 machines between 2013 and 2015.

In the court filing, GmbH claimed, “Without Bitmanagement’s advance knowledge or consent, the Navy installed BS Contact Go onto hundreds of thousands of computers. Bitmanagement did not license or otherwise authorize these uses of its software, and the Navy has never compensated Bitmanagement for these uses of Bitmanagement’s software.”

The company sued the Navy for nearly $600 million for “willful copyright infringement” of the software which, according to the vendor’s website, is a 3D viewer that “enables you to visualize and interact with state of the art 2D/3D content,” and is based on digital data captured from “various sources (land surveys, CAD, satellite imagery, airborne laser scanning, etc).”

The court filings stated that after GmbH filed the lawsuit in July 2016, the Navy uninstalled the BS Contact Geo software from all of its computers and “subsequently reinstalled the software on 34 seats, for inventory purposes.”

GmbH wrote in the court filing, “The government knew or should have known that it was required to obtain a license for copying Bitmanagement software onto each of the devices that had Bitmanagement software installed. The government nonetheless failed to obtain such licenses.”

However, the Navy responded in a separate court filing, claiming that the existing licenses it obtained allowed them to make additional copies of the software without requiring additional payment.

“Defendant denies that the licenses were limited to installation of BS Contact Geo on a total of 38 Navy personal computers,” the filing argued. “Defendant further avers that the Navy procured concurrent-use network-installation licenses of BS Contact Geo.”

The software company claimed the per-copy license was worth $1,067.76, but the Navy’s expert witness, David Kennedy, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for Pricewaterhouse Coopers determined that the price per license amounts to $200.

Kennedy’s testimony was found to be reliable, the court filing says, adding “Kennedy testified he looked ‘at the Navy’s side of the equation, and what they had agreed to previously, and what their use ultimately was of the software, and the limited amount of use.’”

The Court of Federal Claims determined that Kennedy’s conclusion was found “to be fair and reasonable,” and awarded GmbH $154,400.

Don’t be surprised if software piracy surges in Russia. The growing blockade on certain tech inside Russia has prompted the Kremlin to consider lifting criminal penalties on digital piracy, according to Russian media.

The Kommersant reports that Russian authorities have discussed suspending criminal and administrative liabilities when it comes to using unlicensed software from countries that have imposed harsh sanctions on Russia.

According to the Kommersant, Russia could legalize the software piracy by citing Article 1360 of the country’s civil code, which allows the government to use an invention or industrial design without the creator’s permission during emergency situations.

Russian news website ANCB.ru also posted a draft plan from the Kremlin that outlines the measures it can take to protect the country’s economy in response to US and European sanctions. Under section 6.7.3, the plan notes “canceling” liabilities for unlicensed software through Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development.

Embracing software privacy could help Russia address the exodus of tech firms from the country in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk and gaming developers such as Electronics Arts and CD Projekt RED have all left the market. Others such as Apple, Intel, AMD, and Nvidia have stopped chip and hardware sales to the country.

According to the Business Software Alliance, Russia had a piracy rate of 62% in 2017 across software installs for an estimated commercial value of $1.2 billion. Since then, the tech industry has been moving to a subscription model for many products, which rely on a constant connection to the cloud. So piracy won’t be able to bootleg every software experience.

Microsoft has come up with a neat idea to tackle the increasing piracy on the internet. The company intends to use a blockchain-based bounty solution called Argus. Likewise, Argus is an Ethereum-based transparent program that allows volunteers to report piracy in exchange for a reward.

Microsoft can easily be termed as an “old dog” when it comes to fighting piracy. The tech giant has enough experience and knowledge in the copyright holding and piracy department. This newly proposed bounty system seems promising.

Microsoft are tightening their rules in Spain, where the company has started fighting those who use pirated versions of Windows. In the latest move, a woman from Madrid was sentenced to a total of 6 months in prison. According to the reports, the woman was using a pirated version of Windows OS on some of the devices in her establishment.

It is worth noting that the woman in question was not using the pirated version for her personal use. On the contrary, it was proven that the woman was using the pirated version of Microsoft Windows OS and Office on the computers used for her official needs.

The establishment, located in Madrid, offered international phone calls. More importantly, we need to consider that the crime was discovered way back in 2017. However, the legal procedure has continued for these years.

Even though she had appeared in court multiple times in the past years, the sentence was announced recently. In addition to spending six months in jail, the woman has to pay a fine of around $4,400, say reports.

On top of this, the court has asked the woman to pay Microsoft the price equivalent to the two licenses of Microsoft Windows. By all means, the verdict goes in tone with the methods taken to prevent the trends of copyright infringement and piracy.

Most importantly, though, it is the first time a person in Spain has been given jail time for software piracy. Even though the verdict was late, it would be a milestone for the tech giant in many senses. At least, the company can use the verdict as a reference for future pursuits.

It is unclear whether the company would target personal users who do not use Windows OS for commercial needs. Other companies tend to take legal action against the commercial applications of piracy while leaving the personal use scenarios.

BSA the Software Alliance, a global trade association of software publishers, warns that the use of unlicensed software poses serious security, business and legal risks to the users and their industries.

BSA’s “Legalise and Protect” campaign sees it working with governments and other partners to educate companies about the significant risks they face when they use software that is not genuine or not fully licensed.

BSA members’ software products are used in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, IT, finance, professional services, construction, healthcare, consumer goods, engineering, architecture and design.

BSA is working with the Thai government, using its database of thousands of companies in Thailand under watch for possible violations.

In coming months BSA will launch public education efforts to ensure business leaders are aware of the risks of using unlicensed software.

“By legalising their software, companies can protect data security, protect competitiveness, protect their reputations – and protect against the risk of legal consequences,” said BSA senior director Tarun Sawney. “The sooner companies legalise, the sooner they can protect their operations and ultimately protect their bottom lines.”

The Asia-Pacific region has the highest rate of unlicensed software use in the world at 57 per cent. A problem of this scale is best tackled by changing minds and behaviour to encourage self-regulation and voluntary compliance, Tarun said.

BSA has thus oriented its campaign primarily to discourage companies from installing and using unlicensed or illegal software – not just for fear of enforcement, but because it is in their best interests to do so.

Microsoft has been cracking down hard on piracy over the past couple of years, filing several lawsuits and seeking damages from distributors of unauthorized keys. One of those was the Rhode Island-based Hanna Instruments, which allegedly sold Office products without a license.

Microsoft and The Software Alliance (BSA) approached the company last year, asking for $72,074 in damages. It said Hanna Instruments could face up to 5 million if it went to court. In a bold move, Hanna both denied the claims and accused the company of extortion.

“BSA, Microsoft, and their counsel have, without supplying one scintilla of evidence, issued a series of letters for the sole purpose of extorting inflated monetary damages,” the company said to the court last year.

India is one of the U.S. technology firm’s biggest markets in Asia, yet over half of all software installed on computers in the country is unlicensed, advocacy group Business Software Alliance said in 2016.

A pirated compact disc of Microsoft’s Windows 10 can be bought for around $2 in New Delhi, compared with $130 needed to buy the operating system from Microsoft’s online portal.

To ensure compliance, Microsoft runs a global “software asset management” (SAM) programme under which it partners global consultants, such as KPMG in India, which seek permission from business owners to check for the use of unlicensed software.

Last month, Vinit Goenka, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and technology adviser to the government, complained to both companies that a KPMG employee “barged in” to his Mumbai recruitment firm without an appointment to check its software, according to emails reviewed by Reuters.

Rajiv Sodhi, a senior Microsoft India executive, told Goenka in a March 20 email that the company was looking at the issue with “utmost seriousness”.

“We are also getting an assessment agency to carry out an audit of the process delivery at KPMG to identify and correct gaps, if any,” Sodhi wrote in the email reviewed by Reuters.

Sodhi did not respond to a request for comment.

Microsoft told Reuters its SAM programme is run as per global standards, while KPMG said it follows “appropriate procedures agreed in our engagement with clients”. Both declined to comment on the alleged incident and probe.

The employee, who identified himself in the emails as Srijesh, declined to comment.

Goenka confirmed the incident and complaint, telling Reuters the handful of computers at his company, Ratein Infotech, used genuine software. He said he planned to file a police complaint against both companies.

Ratein Infotech last month received a letter from the U.S. software firm saying it needed help in “interpreting licensing policies of Microsoft”, the emails showed. The issue escalated when the KPMG employee entered Ratien’s office on March 15.

Microsoft and KPMG apologised and the employee, Srijesh, resigned, the e-mails showed.

“This is part of my regular job, that I do on a daily basis as directed by KPMG and Microsoft,” Srijesh wrote in an apology email to Goenka, seen by Reuters.

Goenka is a former employee of International Business Machines Corp and advises government committees on information technology initiatives.

Microsoft and the BSA are accusing Rhode Island-based company Hanna Instruments of pirating software. Despite facing threats of millions of dollars in damages the company maintains its innocence, backed up by license keys and purchase receipts. The BSA’s lawyers are not convinced, however, so Hanna have decided to take the matter to court.

For many years, Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) have carried out piracy investigations into organizations large and small.

Companies accused of using Microsoft software without permission usually get a letter asking them to pay up, or face legal consequences.

Rhode Island-based company Hanna Instruments is one of the most recent targets. The company stands accused of using Microsoft Office products without a proper license.

However, instead of Microsoft going after Hanna in court for copyright infringement, Hanna has filed a lawsuit against BSA and Microsoft asking for a declaratory judgment that it did nothing wrong.

The lawsuit is the result of a long back-and-forth that started in June. At the time, BSA’s lawyers sent Hanna a letter accusing it of using Microsoft products without a proper license, while requesting an audit.

Hanna’s management wasn’t aware of any pirated products but after repeated requests, the company decided to go ahead and conduct a thorough investigation. The results, combined in a detailed spreadsheet, showed that it purchased 126 copies of Microsoft Office software, while only 120 were in use.

Perfectly fine, they assumed, but the BSA was not convinced.

Since Hanna only had Microsoft generated key cards for the most recent purchases, the company used purchase orders, requisitions, and price quotes to prove that it properly licensed earlier copies of Microsoft Office. Not good enough, according to the BSA, which wanted to see money instead.

The BSA’s lawyers informed Hanna that the company would face up to $4,950,000 in damages if the case went to court. Instead, however, they offered to settle the matter for $72,074.

Hanna wasn’t planning to pay and pointed out that they sent in as much proof as they could find, documenting legal purchases of Microsoft Office licenses for a period covering more than ten years. While the BSA appreciated the effort, it didn’t accept this as hard evidence.

“…the provision of purchase orders, price quotes, purchase requisitions are not acceptable as valid proof of purchase to our client. Reason being, the aforesaid documents do not demonstrate that a purchase has taken place, they merely establish intent to make a purchase of software,” the BSA wrote in yer another email.

Interestingly, the BSA itself still failed to provide any solid proof that Hanna was using unlicensed software. The Rhode Island company repeatedly requested this, but the BSA simply replied that it’s neither appropriate nor efficient to request evidence from their clients in every case.

The BSA then went a step further and suggested that Microsoft did the company a favor by approaching it directly. The alternative would have been to call in the U.S. Marshals and raid the company’s headquarters.

“The rights holders had the alternative option of simply commencing litigation and seeking a court order permitting a raid by U.S. Marshals,” the BSA’s lawyers wrote in one of their letters.

This ‘threat’ wasn’t completely in vain. In the past, the BSA and Microsoft’s accusations have developed into fully-fledged raids, with armed law enforcement officials assisting the software vendor, taking away computers for further inspection.

Still, Hanna maintained that it didn’t do anything wrong. At this point, they’d spent $25,000 on disproving the BSA’s “baseless” claims, and saw no other option than to take the matter to court.

Late last week the company submitted a complaint against Microsoft and the BSA in a Rhode Island federal court, asking for a declaratory judgment and monetary compensation.

“To date, the Defendants have not provided any documentation supporting the baseless allegation that Hanna illegally copied Microsoft Office, in spite of repeated requests by Plaintiff’s counsel that BSA produce such information,” the complaint reads.

“By this Complaint, Hanna seeks a declaration by the Court that it has not infringed any Microsoft copyrights, that Hanna has been harmed by BSA’s relentless and unsupported charges, and that Defendants pay Hanna’s costs and expenses for this action, together with reasonable attorney fees, and any additional monetary award this Court deems appropriate.”

It’s now up to the court to decide who’s right and who’s wrong, but the case already provides a rare and intriguing insight into the anti-piracy practices of Microsoft and the BSA.

This isn’t the first time that one of these cases has gone to court. In Belgium, the BSA and Microsoft lost a similar case. Here, a local company was ordered to pay a settlement on the spot or lose its computers. With law enforcement at the ready, the owner decided to pay, despite owning valid licenses.

Johor Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) has seized 76 copies of pirated software and six computers estimated to be worth RM741,300 in two separate raids in Ulu Tiram, here, two days ago.

Johor KPDNKK chief enforcement officer Aris Mamat said the raids were carried out on May 22 and 23 following complaints from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) about software piracy conducted in two business premises in Ulu Tiram.

“All the raids conducted received an alert from BSA where we seized the pirated software brands Adobe, Autodesk and Microsoft which were all registered under BSA.

The ministry will continue its efforts to protect intellectual property from being misused by irresponsible parties under the Copyright Act 1987. The ministry will not compromise with any business premises engaged in piracy,” he said in a statement here Wednesday.

According to him, any business premises, organisation or individual found in possession and using pirated software shall be punishable under Section 41 (1) (d) of the Copyright Act 1987, which carries a fine of up to RM20,000 for each pirated software in addition to five years jail or both if convicted.

“In a study conducted by the BSA in 2015, it was found there are still many users of pirated software in Malaysia where the installation rate of pirated software is 53 percent with a commercial value of US$456mil (RM1.9bil). – Bernama