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Cambridge researchers target pirates
PIRACY UK firms pay price of excess users he Business Software Alliance continues its crack down on the illegal use of software. The telecommunications service provider, Esprit Telecom, has agreed to pay £50 000 compensation to the BSA for having unlicensed users of BSA member company software on its computer networks in offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Germany.
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The BSA, whose members worldwide include Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Novell and Symantec, first contacted Esprit Telecom last year following a call to its hotline. Esprit's management was reportedly surprised to learn that the company had insufficient licenses for its software. Increasingly, it is the case that rapidly growing businesses find themselves using unlicensed software," said Clare O'Brien of the BSA. "They plan for new employees but forget to plan for the software that makes them productive." Since its formation in 1988, the BSA has filed more than 600 lawsuits worldwide against suspected copyright infringers. The organization operates more than 35 hotlines globally for callers seeking information or to report suspected incidents of unauthorized software copying.
NEWS Cambridge researchers target pirates at Cambridge University, UK have R esearchers designed a prototype mobile electronic surveillance system that automatically hunts down pirated software. New Scientist magazine reports that Markus Kuhn and Dr Ross Anderson have developed software that detects and decodes the otherwise inaudible radio signals that computer screens emit. Modelled on similar technology used by international spies to eavesdrop on c o m p u t e r and telephone communication, the Cambridge technology enables a software company to vary the way that information is emitted from computer screens, allowing the company to conceal a hidden message which can be decoded to verify to whom the software is licensed. Microsoft has been approached with the idea of deploying the technology. However, the software giant turned down the opportunity because of the public relations implications, said the Cambridge researchers. Such surveillance methods are not new in Britain. For years the UK Government has used similar technology to identify television viewers who have failed to pay mandatory television licensing fees.
For the BSA UK hotline, call 0800 510510.
Microsoft takes action against pirates to stem the tide of unlicensed use of its a t i n g s y s t e m and applications software, IMnoipcaner roattempt s o f t is filing a round of lawsuits and is
holographic onto the disk with code telling where it was made.
deploying new anti-counterfeit technology into its CD-ROMs.
To help clarify major issues raised by software theft, Microsoft has launched its first ever 'Software Piracy Action Pack'. Included in the pack is a six point sales plan to help resellers identify customers who need the most help avoiding piracy. It also offers an overview of the benefits of owning legitimate software, the legal implications of not doing so and information on the types of software theft that occur.
The software giant is taking 12 small California resellers to court for alleged violation of its trademarks and copyrights. The vendors are accused of bundling pirated copies of Windows 95 and Office 97 and counterfeiting versions of Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows NT Server. In order to make counterfeiting of its software more difficult, Microsoft has licensed technology used to embed holograms onto the face of its CD-ROMs. The technology, from 3dcd, a joint venture of Nimbus CD I n t e r n a t i o n a l and U K - b a s e d Applied Holographics, can place an unremovable
Computer Fraud & Security April 1998 © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd
"One in three software packages is pirated and therefore has not been bought from a legitimate dealer," says David Gregory, anti-piracy manager at Microsoft UK. "Potentially £200 million of unpaid revenue is locked up in accounts of customers who, unwittingly or deliberately, are using Microsoft products without having paid for the correct licensing."
T
The BSA, whose members worldwide include Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Novell and Symantec, first contacted Esprit Telecom last year following a call to its hotline. Esprit's management was reportedly surprised to learn that the company had insufficient licenses for its software. Increasingly, it is the case that rapidly growing businesses find themselves using unlicensed software," said Clare O'Brien of the BSA. "They plan for new employees but forget to plan for the software that makes them productive." Since its formation in 1988, the BSA has filed more than 600 lawsuits worldwide against suspected copyright infringers. The organization operates more than 35 hotlines globally for callers seeking information or to report suspected incidents of unauthorized software copying.
NEWS Cambridge researchers target pirates at Cambridge University, UK have R esearchers designed a prototype mobile electronic surveillance system that automatically hunts down pirated software. New Scientist magazine reports that Markus Kuhn and Dr Ross Anderson have developed software that detects and decodes the otherwise inaudible radio signals that computer screens emit. Modelled on similar technology used by international spies to eavesdrop on c o m p u t e r and telephone communication, the Cambridge technology enables a software company to vary the way that information is emitted from computer screens, allowing the company to conceal a hidden message which can be decoded to verify to whom the software is licensed. Microsoft has been approached with the idea of deploying the technology. However, the software giant turned down the opportunity because of the public relations implications, said the Cambridge researchers. Such surveillance methods are not new in Britain. For years the UK Government has used similar technology to identify television viewers who have failed to pay mandatory television licensing fees.
For the BSA UK hotline, call 0800 510510.
Microsoft takes action against pirates to stem the tide of unlicensed use of its a t i n g s y s t e m and applications software, IMnoipcaner roattempt s o f t is filing a round of lawsuits and is
holographic onto the disk with code telling where it was made.
deploying new anti-counterfeit technology into its CD-ROMs.
To help clarify major issues raised by software theft, Microsoft has launched its first ever 'Software Piracy Action Pack'. Included in the pack is a six point sales plan to help resellers identify customers who need the most help avoiding piracy. It also offers an overview of the benefits of owning legitimate software, the legal implications of not doing so and information on the types of software theft that occur.
The software giant is taking 12 small California resellers to court for alleged violation of its trademarks and copyrights. The vendors are accused of bundling pirated copies of Windows 95 and Office 97 and counterfeiting versions of Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows NT Server. In order to make counterfeiting of its software more difficult, Microsoft has licensed technology used to embed holograms onto the face of its CD-ROMs. The technology, from 3dcd, a joint venture of Nimbus CD I n t e r n a t i o n a l and U K - b a s e d Applied Holographics, can place an unremovable
Computer Fraud & Security April 1998 © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd
"One in three software packages is pirated and therefore has not been bought from a legitimate dealer," says David Gregory, anti-piracy manager at Microsoft UK. "Potentially £200 million of unpaid revenue is locked up in accounts of customers who, unwittingly or deliberately, are using Microsoft products without having paid for the correct licensing."