WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A Business Software Alliance poll shows one-quarter of U.S. professionals know their offices use at least some counterfeit software. But the BSA let lawbreakers know that such violations come at a price: in conjunction with its piracy survey, the BSA also announced it had received more than $2.2 million in legal settlements with 25 companies nationwide over the use of pirated software -- the first installment of its new campaign, "$2 Million Tuesday" -- which is intended to raise awareness about the importance of using only fully licensed software.

"The Ipsos survey reveals a disconnect between what people know is right and what they do," said Bob Kruger, vice president of enforcement for BSA.

"Businesses are aware of the risk of copying software, but as the settlements announced today illustrate, many fail to put into place policies and practices that prevent the problem from occurring. We hope that these announcements will cause every business to reexamine whether its software management systems are up to speed."

Research firm Ipsos Public Affairs polled more than 1,500 professionals in the accounting, architecture, engineering, financial services and graphic design industries for the study.

While 90 percent of those polled said software piracy is a "risk no business can afford to take," and 79 percent said they would not want to work for a firm that uses unlicensed software, 23 percent of them said at least some of the commercial software used in their workplace is unlicensed, and 46 percent said that at least some of the software used in their profession is pirated.

"The Ipsos survey reveals a disconnect between what people know is right and what they do," said Bob Kruger, vice president of enforcement for the BSA. "Businesses are aware of the risk of copying software but as the settlements announced today illustrate, many fail to put into place policies and practices that prevent the problem from occurring. We hope that these announcements will cause every business to reexamine whether its software management systems are up to speed."

A study the BSA released on global software piracy in July showed that 22 percent of software being used in the United States is unlicensed. Last year, software piracy losses in the United States cost manufacturers more than $6.5 billion.

Software management policies also deter using pirated software: 86 percent of employees at companies that have such policies, compared to 63 percent of those at companies that don't have policies, prefer that their employer use licensed software. And they are more likely not to condone sharing software between colleagues -- 25 percent, compared to 38 percent at companies without set policies.

And using pirated software, even without the employer's knowledge, can put a business in jeopardy of infringement.

Colorado-based manufacturing company APG Test Consultants, Inc. found this out the hard way. It paid BSA $45,000 after a self-audit revealed that the firm had unlicensed Microsoft and Symantec software on its computers, according to its co-owner, John Joy.

"Unfortunately we were unaware that some employees had installed unauthorized software on APG systems," said Joy. "But we worked with BSA to quickly resolve this matter, and have since implemented a software management program so that APG continues to comply with all software licenses."

But it could have been worse -- each infringement can cost a company up to $150,000, depending on the situation, according to the BSA. Indeed, BSA members include such heavy-hitters as Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Bentley Systems, Borland, CNC Software/Mastercam, Internet Security Systems, Macromedia, Microsoft, McAfee, SolidWorks, Sybase, Symantec, UGS and VERITAS Software.

Part of the problem may be ignorance of the law: only 72 percent said they knew that sharing software with co-workers without proper licensing was wrong. "You would like to think that companies are trying to do the ethical thing -- we just need to get the word out," said Laura Brinker, spokeswoman for the BSA. "Our main target audience is small and medium-sized businesses -- the big corporations know about (software infringement) and they have the resources to put the right policies in place."

Some businesses might not realize that if that they buy one copy of a software program and copy it for another employee, that's infringement, she said. "People are still unaware of all the manifestations."

So who actually reports such infringements? "Sometimes it still might be a former disgruntled employee, or someone who works there and thinks it's wrong," said Brinker.

The BSA Web site provides free software audit tools so companies can see if they are in compliance, and also provides sample software policy documents for businesses that still need to create a policy. Businesses trying to determine whether their organizations are using unlicensed software can download the free software audit tools at www.bsaaudit.com.