The BSA Manhunt

I was riding the MRT the other day when I noticed the Business Software Alliance poster offering a bounty as high as P1 Million pesos for anyone who would be brave/stupid enough to narc on one’s employer for using pirated software on company network systems. What an ingenuous approach, I thought. Any regular schmo could not care less whether his office has genuine software installed in his/her computer as long as it’s running fine. But for 1 million pesos, why the hell not, right? The juicy prospect of earning money with the added bonus of sticking it to your dictatorial boss and your uber-stingy company does make one sit up and take notice, most especially any one of those disgruntled employees who ride the MRT every day.

It made me wonder though, if the BSA is willing to fork out a considerable amount of money just to encourage people to rat out their employers, does it mean that they actually think that they stand to gain a significant amount as a net effect of this plan of theirs? The answer would seem to be in the affirmative. From their perspective, the substantial loss of income would be enough justification to conduct this type of campaign to deter companies from using those dastardly pirated software. The reward money is chump change considering the king’s ransom they would demand from companies for the installation of genuine ones.

It’s not the BSA’s problem if some of these companies cannot afford to have their entire system outfitted with the genuine stuff. So what if most companies are in a vulnerable financial position at this point in time? When small businesses like internet cafes have their equipment confiscated and left to rot in a storage facility somewhere effectively paralyzing the business and causing its eventual demise thereafter – not the BSA’s fault. And if companies get fined a bankruptcy inducing amount for their infraction, well BSA should not be blamed either.

After all, the companies reported did violate the law. It serves them right to be fined and punished. These are not some lowly person’s rights being trampled upon here. We’re talking about the rights of the software companies – the big guns. It’s not as if there are more important rights being violated that need more immediate and effective attention from our government. It’s not like we’re a 3rd world country with more pressing issues than upholding the precious property rights of copyright and patent owners.

If I have to offer my two cents though, I believe that if BSA’s actions are truly dedicated to inhibiting piracy, then it should instead promote the use of FOSS in the Philippines. In countries like ours (economy cellar dwellers), FOSS represents an ethical approach to software use that supports IP laws. Greater FOSS adoption means the piracy index of the Philippines will go down. In sum, go FOSS!