A Burnaby security firm has agreed to pay $78,000 for software it didn't have a licence to use.
Cobra Integrated Systems has agreed to pay $78,000 for software it had not licensed, delete the software and obtain new licences, according to BSA Software Alliance.
Under-licensing is when a person or business has a license for software, but ends up using multiple iterations of it without paying for it. It is considered a form of piracy.
"Under-licensing is a significant contributor to the overall software piracy market in Canada and affects all industry sectors," BSA Canada committee chairwoman Jacqueline Famulak said.
"Software piracy hampers technology companies' ability to innovate and create much-needed jobs and government revenues during these challenging economic times."
The BSA said Cobra's use of unlicensed software was discovered following a tip made through its reporting site www.nopiracy.ca.
"The demands of our growing business and the recent establishment of multiple new offices across the country led to a lapse in our adherence to IT administrative policies," Brian Sylvester, a director of Cobra Integrated Systems Ltd., said in a BSA statement.
"This is not indicative of our usual standard of excellence applied to our services. We focused on the needs of our clients. We regret our lack of focus on internal matters that resulted in the circumstances leading to this settlement.
"We have used this situation as an impetus to complete a transition to a completely new management information infrastructure with full compliant licensing and auditing procedures."
Under the Canadian Copyright Act, fines of up to $20,000 can be levied for each title of software that is not properly licensed.
