NY firms settle software piracy claims

By New York Business Powered by Crain's

Five New York companies paid nearly $400,000 in total to settle claims that they had unlicensed copies of software programs installed on office computers.

The Business Software Alliance, a watchdog group for software manufacturers, said the companies also agreed to delete unlicensed programs, buy replacement software and beef up their software management practices.

The watchdog group said it was alerted to the piracy problems through calls to BSA's hotline and/or through online reporting forms. In addition, BSA said, the companies voluntarily carried out self-audits once they had been notified of possible issues. According to BSA, 22% of software in the U.S. is unlicensed, and last year, software piracy cost the U.S. $6.5 billion.

Manhattan-based Theatre Direct International, a theater marketing agency, paid $97,338; Cornerstone Promotion, a Manhattan-based marketing firm, paid $82,500; White Plains, N.Y.-based Pristine Capital Holdings Inc., a provider of online educational and financial services, paid $80,000; Farmingdale, L.I.-based medical device maker Misonix Inc. paid $69,697; and Manhattan-based Facsimile Communications Industries Inc., an information technology firm, paid $65,000. The unlicensed software included applications from Microsoft, Adobe and other companies.