I received yet another press release from the BSA (Business Software Alliance). It was about a funny video. Why the PR firm thought it was relevant to me is astounding.
It got me thinking. Is the BSA losing relevancy? Two things are shaping the commercial software world: SAAS and Open Source.
The BSA's job is to stop piracy - in the US mainly. However, piracy around the world dwarfs the US. < I won't rant here about copyright or the fact that there are way too many lawyers.> Needless to say, the BSA makes a living chasing small business owners about licensing. How do they find them? Disgruntled employees who turn them in. (I've seen it happen. Not pretty at all).
When most software moves to the Cloud or as a service, licensing headaches will disappear. (Data security headaches will increase dramatically however). So the BSA is expiring.
It got me thinking. Is the BSA losing relevancy? Two things are shaping the commercial software world: SAAS and Open Source.
The BSA's job is to stop piracy - in the US mainly. However, piracy around the world dwarfs the US. < I won't rant here about copyright or the fact that there are way too many lawyers.> Needless to say, the BSA makes a living chasing small business owners about licensing. How do they find them? Disgruntled employees who turn them in. (I've seen it happen. Not pretty at all).
When most software moves to the Cloud or as a service, licensing headaches will disappear. (Data security headaches will increase dramatically however). So the BSA is expiring.
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