Honeywell raided by police in file sharing network hunt

Police in Motherwell has carried out raids on offices of engineering company Honeywell, following a tip-off from an employee that the firm had a large file sharing network on its servers.

The UK record industry trade body, the BPI, said that it alerted the police after investigating an allegation by a Honeywell employee of what he described as an "extensive illegal music filesharing network".

Police are now quizzing employees after serving a warrant on the Honeywell premises earlier this morning.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said that file sharing music in the workplace is illegal, a misuse of company resources, a waste of employees' time and a risk to network security.

"Any businesses that are complacent in this area should take note: failure to put in place a stringent, enforceable policy to prevent staff copying and distributing music on company systems could expose the company, and the employees concerned, to the risk of civil proceedings or a criminal investigation," he said.

"Uploading music files to a company computer network for other employees to download is a serious offence. File sharing music without permission, whether you are on the internet at home or in the office, is illegal and can carry stiff penalties."

Honeywell has not responded to a request for comment.

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