Business Software Association Australia

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The Business Software Association Australia (BSAA) is an industry association in Australia of commercial software producers and corporations that advocates software copyright compliancy and assists the litigation of copyright infringement through support and funding. The BSAA typically retains the law firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques (a particularly notable Australian law firm[1]) to investigate and litigate it's interests.

The association publishes a range of auditing tools and provides information on software copyright and license compliancy.

The association has been particularly more active in the defense of copyright infringement since January 2006 when Australian Copyright law was changed to make the running of an enterprise with infringing software a criminal offense.

[edit] Members

The full members of the BSAA are Adobe, Microsoft, Computer Associates, Symantec, Autodesk and Apple Computer.

[edit] Criticisms

Like most industry associations that support litigation of copyright matters, the BSAA is occasionally mentioned as being draconian although it is considerably more measured in action it takes than it's counterparts in the UK and United States. Associations such as the BSAA are also sometimes considered as an example of a 'good hand, bad hand' tactic as it's members can actively pursue their interests through the association and draw criticism to the association rather than themselves as members.

References:

  1. ^ Law500