Its primary activity is fighting software piracy concerning computer software by its members - a crime it claims to numbers the software industry over 11 billion dollars each season.

Overview
Robert Holleyman is its current president & CEO, the BSthe employs a team of assibilate Centred attorney & investigators, which it utilizes to prosecute "thousands of cases a year" around conjunction using local law enforcement. A majority one lawsuits come reported to BSA either across one of its 65 piracy telephone hotlines, or even across low report forms. Fallowing getting the tip, BSthe so sends the corporations a note using an inexplicit threat of a forthcoming software audit. In case a BSA finds shells of software program piracy, it assesses heavily pecuniary penalties. A bit of corporations keep around switched to free software after having to pay such big mulct.

BSA has non been reported to trend lines FSF or other loose package groups in their actions of right of first publication enforcement. It launder, still, trend lines a controversial software patents.

Critique
BSA has been under heavily critique for its aggressive tactics good microscopic businesses to allow BSA members onto their assumption for audits, & for its presumption of guilt until an audit proves of these inexperienced person. These are likewise worthy of note that BSA is an organization founded inside the United states, & is presently while forgoing official status in virtually all European countries.

It're too swell known for lobbying for ENISA, the European Network & References Security Professional, the recommended network security establishment that would work in EU. Look at [http://www.ffii.org/proj/enisa/] & [http://wiki.ael.be/index.php/ENISA].

Campaigns
Among a additional provocative approaches BSA has taken is the Bust The Boss! campaign that has appeared in hoarding, printed publications & on the Internet with the ensuing guide: ''"Is your current or former employer using pirated software in their office? Hit 'em where it really hurts - report their illegal software use today."''

An additional recent campaign called Play It Cyber Safe features an anti-piracy ferret for a mascot. A supposed goal of the campaign is to "educate children about the importance of protecting and respecting copyrighted works". Starting September 1, 2004, children likewise had to vote in one of 5 pre-approved list for the ferret.

Members
Adobe Systems Apple Computer Autodesk Avid Bentley Systems Borland Cisco Systems CNC Software/Mastercam HP IBM Intel Internet Security Systems Intuit Macromedia Microsoft Network Associates PeopleSoft Phoenix Technologies RSA Security SolidWorks Sybase Symantec UGS PLM Solutions Inc. Veritas Software