The Billion Pound software piracy problem

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"My ultimate aim is to get a company director in prison".

Those are the words of John Lovelock, director general of the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST). The first time we heard him make this shocking statement? He was addressing a room full of company directors and managers at an event in early 2006.

But that's typical John Lovelock. Since then, we've met him twice more and each time he's in the same bullish mood. He believes without question that software piracy is a crime, and should be treated is such. "The reason there is complacency within corporate UK is because software is not treated as an asset", he asserts, "and our biggest challenge is directors taking responsibility for software in their enterprises".

And he's pulling few punches. Software, he argues, is often worth ten times more than the physical computer it sits on. But take a look at the average asset register in a company, and you may find the keyboard and mouse, but you won't find the software listed at all. "It undervalues companies", he argues, citing an example of one firm he dealt with whose value was some £3 million short as a result.

"If we get a director in jail for the maximum amount [currently ten years], then that will resonate with directors and managers, and permeate through the business world".

"It will", he argues, "send an industry-wide message that this is a serious issue". And, he adds, if it comes to the crunch, ignorance of the problem simply isn't a defence in court.

Intellectual property

Lovelock is passionate about his work, and equally passionate about right and wrong. "IP is so important", he charges. "We used to be a big manufacturing economy, yet now IP contributes $53 billion. Eight per cent of our gross domestic product is down to IP, and 1.9 million people are employed in our creative industries. Yet still, people see software piracy as a victimless crime, and they certainly don't see it as physical theft". He quickly couples this with a statistic that reveals 27 per cent of the software used in UK businesses is illegal - "and that equates to £1 billion per annum of loss to the software industry".

Furthermore, he cites the case of one of FAST's members, a small husband and wife software publisher, whose software had been stolen and as a result, their business was, as Lovelock describes it, "on its knees". Even when FAST intervened, it was a troublesome path to get the case of the software theft to court. And while they're now a successful firm, "the simple truth is they nearly went broke because people stole their code".

File sharing

Considering Lovelock's involvement with the Federation Against Software Theft is just coming up to five years, he's seen much change in that time. FAST themselves have moved their focus from the Sunday car boot traders to companies with 30 PCs or more (given the limited resources of FAST, he concedes that there are limitations to what they can achieve), and they're also heavily involved in action against UK file sharers. That said, they've already proved to be far less draconian than those doing a similar job in the US.

"Last year, we identified 145 targets who were sharing our members' software", he explains, "and we went to court for an order to get ISPs to reveal their personal details. We presented the evidence, got the details, and wrote to the targets concerned".

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