The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has fingered Manchester as a haven for unlicensed and counterfeit software usage as it launches a “Fair Play” campaign in the city.

The anti-software-piracy body, whose members include Microsoft, Adobe and Oracle, will contact 11,000 businesses in the Manchester area over the next month to encourage those using counterfeit or unlicensed software – knowingly or unknowingly – to get their houses in order.

The recipients will be directed to an individual profile on the BSA Company Index portal which will enable them to check their licensing status and ensure all the software installed on their computers is properly licensed.

Although the BSA plans to roll out the campaign elsewhere in the UK, Manchester provides an ideal testbed, Warren Weertman, senior counsel EMEA at the BSA, told CRN.

“Over the past year or so a number of companies have been reported to us in the Manchester area for using unlicensed software,” he said.

In particular, the BSA has observed widespread use of unlicensed Adobe and Autodesk software among design and architecture firms in the northern city, Weertman said.

SOURCE: channelweb.co.uk