Battle against software piracy brings results in Asia

Last year Tekla joined the ranks of other leading software and hardware companies as a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). Tekla takes part in the BSA anti-piracy program in EMEA, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Recent raids in the Philippines, Indonesia and China prove that cooperation is paying off.

The BSA membership provides Tekla an international network to better protect its customers’ investment by ensuring fair competition. At the same time Tekla has a chance to stress the importance of using legal versions of its products. BSA is a non-profit trade association established to advance the goals of the software industry regarding piracy. BSA Country Committees make annual plans of enforcement actions and report on their results. They also aim at influencing local legislations and media messaging to support anti-piracy.

In February 2008, piracy enforcement actions were conducted against two companies, one in the Philippines and one in Indonesia. The biggest catch turned out to be a Philippine steel consultancy company with hardware located in several offices in Pasig City. The raids were conducted by BSA authorized agents and assisted by representatives of local law offices and supporting companies. The piracy team conducted thorough examinations of all computer units in the company and found numerous illegal installations of Tekla, Microsoft and Autodesk software. Of 30 computer units, 16 units were installed with unlicensed Tekla Structures software. The total estimated cost of unlicensed software use was Php 28.5 million (ca. US$ 700,000/€ 450,000). In the raid to an engineering company offices in Jakarta, Indonesia, local BSA representatives found two unlicensed Tekla Structures software installations and several other instances of software belonging to other BSA members.

“At the moment the biggest problem area in terms of software piracy is China,” says Mr Ari Nässi, Tekla’s Area Director in Malaysia. In March 2008, a Chinese BSA representative agency conducted an administrative raid against a steel building company in Beijing and found four installations of pirate Tekla software. The agency issued an administrative penalty within about one month. According to Nässi, before any penalty actions, Tekla expects and encourages the caught companies to legalize their software. “About half of the Tekla Structures installations in the Philippines are illegal versions,” he regrets to say. "However, through the BSA membership we get information on illegal software use much more efficiently than before and are able to enforce actions. Tekla partners and resellers in Asian countries have an active role in campaigning, rewarding reports of suspects, and consequently communicating towards them. We are making good progress together, and the existing Tekla customers very much encourage us to proceed with the raids to protect their own investment.

Says Mr Tarun Sawney, Director of BSA Anti Piracy in Asia: “Tekla has taken an active role right since the beginning of their membership, and in BSA we can see that they are serious about protecting their rights. Similar actions will soon be taken in Europe, and we highly recommend any Tekla software user to contact Tekla if they have whatsoever concern about the legality of their version.” E-mail: piracy@tekla.com