Schools face software piracy litigation
The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has launched a campaign that threatens to prosecute LEAs, schools, headteachers and governors if they are found to use unauthorised (pirated) software.
While software piracy is an issue in education, it tends to be students (particularly in FE and HE) who are the culprits rather than institutions. By taking such a heavy-handed approach, FAST may be adding to the impetus for schools and LEAs to move away from proprietary software to open source. For many schools simply managing their networks is a big (read expensive) task and although they should have strict software licensing and verification policies/systems, they always run the risk that students and unauthorised staff may upload illegal software and hide it within the network.
Using FAST as the vehicle for such an aggressive approach may be a way to shield major software companies from an educational backlash. FAST’s members would be wise to consider just how risky this strategy might be, by looking at the growing controversy caused by Microsoft’s Genuine Advantage software. Microsoft recently raised the ire of computer users around the world by admitting Microsoft Genuine Advantage includes spyware that sends them daily reports verifying whether a user’s Microsoft products are correctly licensed.
It is unlikely all schools will be in complete compliance with their software licensing agreements, but given the international dimensions of the problems around software piracy (including the involvement of organised crime and terror networks) FAST’s decision to target schools seems an overreaction.