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Are you destroying documentation critical to future software piracy defenses? |
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Corporations around the globe are being confronted for piracy—or software license non compliance—on a daily basis. The 26+ American and nearly 100 global copyright enforcement groups have a virtual carte blanche to literally batter down your door in their search for copyright violations. Unfortunately for those of us who are business technology consumers, the rules are in favor of the copyright holders. More to the point, our own business practices could easily be setting us up for the kill.
What missing documents?
When the software police or copyright cops come tapping, gently tapping, at your door, they’re going to ask you to produce a very formal range of documents that prove you are in legal possession of their products. Quite frankly, Scarlet, you won’t have some of them. And that, my friend, is one of the major ways that you are currently placing your own…well…you know?...your own neck in the copyright violations noose.
Best Practice for Failure?
The majority of corporations operate with some level of accounting best practices. Whether it is via an in-house accountant or team, or through an external service, we all have to keep the books. Unfortunately, one of the most common accounting best practices is partially guided by formal document retention policies. Guess what? A massively alarming number of our own personnel or business services are engaged in the accounting best practice of destroying documents when they reach 3 to 5 years old. While this might be fine for cancelled paychecks or cubicle receipts, it is virtual death in terms of copyrighted product documentation.What do I need?
"On of the largest software publishers in the world has actually permitted its compliance review auditors to search audit target company records back as far as 10 years in their search for license support documentation." Is there one chance in a thousand that you have kept your documents for that period of time? Hardly...
Which documents am I discussing? Well, here is where we have additional problems with standards—actually, the lack of standards. Since the enforcement industry players have no formal standards, you will have to retain every item of documentation that proves you legally obtained the products; that you actually delivered payment for the specific product; that the product was fully licensed; and that the product was not counterfeit. For the purpose of this paper, the major documents you should be concerned with include, but are not limited to, the following:
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Authenticity Documents
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Receipts
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Paid Invoices
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Statements
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Cancelled Checks
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Licenses
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Upgrade Path Documents
Hardware too?
Destroying proof of possession documents due to accounting best practice retention periods will—not might: will—expose your company to massive penalties for copyright violation. When, not if, you are audited by that computer aided design (CAD) software firm, if you cannot produce your purchase documents, you will lose the confrontation. The same holds true for any copyrighted product. In fact, you may need to keep the hardware receipts if your computers were delivered fully loaded with operating system and software.
What You Don’t Know…
Several issues regarding this problem constantly astound me. In the many years that I have been interacting with people and companies involved in software or IT asset management programs (or people who have been targeted for audits) I am always finding companies that have destroyed this absolutely vital documentation. More than that, I have had many an intense conversation with business accounting professionals who have staunchly defended the practice—even as their companies have been writing the six figure checks for piracy. What astounded me even more was when, in conversations with the leadership of two of the major US enforcement entities, neither had any clue that accounting best practices could very easily be responsible for a significant percentage of missing documentation.
Are you caught in this trap? Better find out now before the audit. You need to know the precise location of every item of documentation for every copyrighted product in your possession. These should include proofs of purchase; licenses; stamps, seals or certificates of authenticity; and, in some cases even master media. This documentation must be retained throughout the entire life cycle of the copyrighted product—including the cycles of any upgraded products where applicable.
We’ll talk more about this. For now, it might be wise to check on your document retention policies. Know where everything is located and, if possible, control the documentation yourself.
Any questions or comments, feel free. Did this material help you in any way? Let us know. Also, if there is a subject you want to hear about, let us know what it is—we’ll look into it for you.
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