Surfers Pushed to Report Software Piracy

The Federation Against Software Theft relies on the kindness of strangers in its effort to short-circuit pirates selling illegal software over the Internet. So in its effort to encourage the reporting of such pirating, FAST wants to make whistle-blowing as simple as the push of a button.

Next week, the London nonprofit will launch a software plug-in for Microsoft's Internet Explorer, that when installed will put an "F" button on a user's browser, says lawyer and FAST representative Julian Heathcote Hobbins. The "F" stands for "fast," not "fink."

The software will be free and available at the FAST Web site.

"The software makes reporting instances of illegal software piracy very straightforward and simple. In the past, people would have to go to our Web site and fill out a form to do so and the process was rather complicated. That's completely changed with this software; it's free, easy, and you can even make an anonymous report if you'd like," Heathcote Hobbins says.

One Click

If a user finds him or herself on a Web site that sells illegal software--be it music, games, movies, or programs--one click on the "F" will pull up a box. A person can fill in their name, a fake name, or no name at all, answer a few other questions, and then click send.

"Included in FAST's software is Webcam software that captures a live example of the site for evidence as well as other basic information about the site," Heathcote Hobbins says.

FAST was set up in 1984 by the British Computer Society's Copyright Committee and works in a fashion similar to the Business Software Alliance in Washington, D.C. "The BSA also investigates reports of software privacy, but its reporting process is very complicated," Heathcote Hobbins says.

Companies' revenue losses due to software piracy were nearly $11.8 billion worldwide in 2000, according to the BSA's annual report. The organization's report for 2001 is expected to be published next month.

Making It Easy

FAST, which does not concern itself with peer-to-peer file sharing, had been receiving a steady stream of e-mail and telephone calls reporting the sale of illegal pirated software until recently, he says.

"Since between December and this spring, our e-mails have fallen to about 10 on the weekends and one or two a night on the weekdays. That works out to about 1,000 reports a year, which is about a fifth of what it had been. I don't know if that's because pirates have gone more underground or perhaps our old system was a bit of a pain. That's why we created the new reporting software, which we believe is the first of its kind," Heathcote Hobbins says.

Once FAST receives a tip-off about pirated software, it investigates the claim. If FAST is satisfied that the report is valid, Heathcote Hobbins sends a letter to the ISP hosting the Internet software pirates' Web site, informing the ISP of the problem and requesting the site be shut down or that similar action be taken.

"ISPs have been very responsive to this issue, and once they are made aware of anything illegal, are generally keen to put a stop to it. FAST is about stopping illegal software but we also work with the other enforcement bodies, covering music, movies, and games," Heathcote Hobbins says.

Working Together

FAST has also been developing a close relationship with the Software & Information Industry Association in Washington, D.C. "Obviously, the Web is global and the problem isn't just confined to the U.K. In fact, I just got a tip-off from the States this week. We are looking to broaden our horizons, but that takes time and money," Heathcote Hobbins says.

FAST is also developing plug-in software for the Netscape browser but is uncertain what the time frame for its release is.

The company makes money through corporate and industry membership fees. Companies pay yearly fees of between $800 to $14,000 per year, depending on the size of the company, to have FAST audit the company to ensure that all of the software the company is using is legal.

FAST not only monitors for software sold illegally over the Internet, but for unregistered software that is being used by companies. About 37 percent of business software used worldwide in 2000 consisted of illegal copies, according to the BSA report.

"There are different types of people that report different types of things. For example, people reporting the sale of illegal software over the Internet may have be burned when they bought illegal software in the past that was ripped badly. Or an IT manager in a company may want to make sure his employer isn't inadvertently doing something illegal. Or in both cases, people may be reporting instances of illegally pirated software simply out of the goodness of their hearts," Heathcote Hobbins says.