IT trade body unhappy over directive's removal of its ability to represent members in court

IT trade body the Federation Against Software Theft (The Federation) has hit out against a European enforcement directive that prevents it from representing members in cases of software intellectual property (IP) infringement.

The Federation told CRN that the directive prevents it from applying its name to court papers in cases where, for example, a software vendor member has fallen victim to software pirates. According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), 27 per cent of UK software is pirated, which equates to about £1bn in lost revenue for the software vendors.

John Lovelock, director general of the Federation, told CRN that its grievance centres on Article Four of the directive, which removes its ability to represent members in court. However, he claimed that trade bodies in other European Union member states have been awarded the right to represent their members in court.

“We can only guess that the problem is because the judiciary sees it as too difficult [to implement],” he said. “If we were able to work on a member’s behalf, we could save it money.”

Lovelock added that it has already applied to the Patent Office to have the issue reconsidered. He said it is due to meet the government department again at the end of summer.

However, Siobhan Carroll, regional manager for northern Europe at the BSA, told CRN: “We prefer to lead by education and the need for software licences. We operate differently to The Federation, but our aim of eradicating software piracy is the same.”

Martin Hamill, managing director of VAR Clarendon Accounting Solutions, said: “If people develop the software, they have the right to protect it.”