NATIONALLY APPROVED TRAINING CAN IMMUNIZE COMPANIES AND PUBLIC AGENCIES AGAINST SOFTWARE LICENSING VIOLATIONS

Enterprise-wide software management strategies prevent piracy and avoid penalties

SEATTLE, April 25, 2000 – A decade ago, the average company didn't have to be concerned with liability for misuse of its computer software.

Today this is a major risk-management issue.

How should businesses and government agencies with hundreds or thousands of computers protect themselves against the severe penalties -- potentially six-figure fines -- for software licensing violations?

"As with most issues of PC security, the pre-emptive solutions have been long in arriving," explains Steve Samuelson, chairman, president and chief executive of NCMX, Inc., a Seattle-based company specializing in organizational software management solutions.

"As with anti-virus measures, no one wants to find out after-the-fact about license violations, even if they occurred innocently. At that point, the liability has been incurred, and you may learn of the problem from a watchdog organization or from law enforcement," Samuelson says. "Fortunately, you can now train and equip your technical staff to ensure your company's compliance."

Certified training available locally mid-May

As for the training, NCMX, Inc. and Remedy Corp. are collaborating to host the "Effective Software Management & Compliance Workshop," in Seattle, May 18 and 19. The program includes the Software Publishers Association's one-day "Certified Software Manager (CSM) Seminar" and introduces Remedy's one-day "Hands-on Software Management Plan Seminar." The workshop teaches workplace technology managers how to comply with software regulations and maximize legal use of software by implementing effective enterprise-wide management programs.

The Software Publishers Association (SPA) has designated Remedy Corp. the exclusive presenter of the CSM Seminar for North America.

NCMX is hosting these seminars to assist businesses and government organizations to understand the importance of managing software license compliance. By proactively managing their software licenses and maintaining current asset inventories, organizations will not only prevent piracy and avoid penalties, but also gain the benefits of more effective usage of existing licenses (discovering unused licenses to avoid purchasing extra licenses) and more cost-effective license purchasing (eliminate license over-purchase).

Training details

The CSM seminar, on the first training day, covers copyright law, license agreements, software management plans and the audit process. The class prepares participants for the exam for the Certified Software Manager professional designation. The program equips IT managers with practical, real-world information, including facts about:

• Software piracy
• Copyright law and what license agreements really mean
• Penalties that can result from improper software usage
• End-user education and
• Plan enforcement through the use of regular audits.

The second-day Hands-on Software Management Plan seminar is optional advanced training that enables participants to gain practical experience by building the components of a proactive, success-proven plan. Participants can take the components back to their organizations to implement. Students receive the Remedy Software Management Plan Toolkit, a valuable workbook filled with planning templates, guidelines and organizational checklists. The seminar teaches participants to effectively analyze and interpret audit results, and participants each build a plan to take back to their organizations.

Software license fundamentals

Software programs may be legally installed on computers for which software licenses have been issued. To install a program on more machines requires the purchase of additional licenses. Failure to purchase those licenses results in criminal "software piracy."

Because software is easy to duplicate, users frequently copy original programs or install them directly to additional machines, demonstrating that it can be easier to ignore copyright law when the material in question is software. The duplication constitutes copyright infringement, whether it is done for sale, for free distribution or for the copier's own use.

Using software that has not been licensed is often a result of ignorance rather than a willful attempt to break the law. The penalties for copyright infringement are stiff, including fines of $150,000 to $250,000 and jail terms up to five years, making it imperative that local IT managers understand their responsibilities for compliance.

Course information

To register, call Annie Ioli at Remedy Corp., at 800/550-5082, ext. 320, and receive priority class registration, priority seating and special course pricing.

NCMX is a leader in services accomplishing software license compliance, asset management, asset assurance and software change management. NCMX can be reached in Seattle at 206/625-9292 or at www.ncmx.com.