If you have received a demand letter from the business software
alliance, here is something you should know.
In our experience, the BSA | The Software Alliance (BSA) has
referred to the Appletree case in 2012 (Adobe Systems Incorporated v. Dale Thompson DBA
Appletree Solutions), to try to convince people
that resisting the BSA’s demands can be a costly mistake.
This was a case in which almost $340,000 in
damages were awarded to the BSA because of software
piracy.
In our opinion, the Appletree case should not be
feared. The reality is that there were a very specific set of facts
at play in the case, which likely do not apply to your situation.
If you are not actively pirating and distributing software; if you
are, like most of our clients under scrutiny from the BSA, simply
someone who may have been less diligent in policing their software
purchases or use; and if you retain a lawyer who is present at the
hearing, then the outcome in Appletree is extremely
unlikely
