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November 5, 2004 12:04 PM PST

Software piracy whistle-blowers get bigger rewards

By Graeme Wearden
Special to CNET News.com

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The Business Software Alliance is doubling the maximum reward it will pay to individuals who report companies that are using pirated software.

The BSA--a trade group supported by Microsoft, Adobe Systems and other major software makers to enforce software licenses and copyrights--announced on Friday that it is raising the ceiling on payments to U.K. whistle-blowers to $37,000 (20,000 pounds) for reports received during November and December this year. Under the BSA's rules, someone who reports that a company is using illegal software--such as counterfeit or unlicensed programs--will receive a reward of 10 percent of the face value of the software recovered.

Previously, this payment was capped at $18,500.

The BSA is hoping that this offer of a larger maximum reward will force companies which are using illegal software to address the issue. The company recently commissioned a survey of around 2,000 UK workers which found that 47 percent of those surveyed said they would be bothered if their company was using software it hadn't paid for.

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