The Business Software Alliance has doubled its maximum reward
for people who report the use of unlicensed software within UK
businesses before the end of June. Staff can report their bosses,
remain anonymous and receive up to £20,000.
"By doubling the incentives for informants we are also
effectively doubling the risk for businesses of getting caught
out," said Siobhan Carroll, Regional Manager Northern Europe at the
BSA. "Hopefully this will make software licensing a higher
priority."
Research by YouGov has found that 64% of UK employees would
report illegal activities to an external body if they had raised an
alarm internally but their reports were ignored. Disgruntled
workers are even more likely to report illegal goings-on.
Sixty-five percent would consider reporting the company if they
felt their employer treated them unfairly, and 27% said that large
salary rises for the board or poor salary reviews for staff could
spur them to act. Corporate ethics are increasingly a concern for
customers: 42% felt that if their customers knew they were using
illegal software they would be less inclined to do business with
them.
According to research house IDC, 27% of software in use in UK
businesses is illegal.
