SIIA Issues Rewards to Seven Software Piracy Whistle-Blowers

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Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:37pm EDT

Nation's Largest Corporate Anti-Piracy Reward Program Pays Out $22,500 in One
Month

WASHINGTON, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Software & Information
Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software
and digital information industry, today announced that it paid $22,500 to
seven sources who reported software piracy to SIIA. The rewards, which were
all paid in March, ranged from $500 to $10,000. 

Since 2003, the SIIA Anti-Piracy Rewards Program has given out the most, and
the largest, anti-piracy awards of any organization.  The rewards, which range
from $500 for a settlement of $10,000 to $1 million for cases with settlement
amounts over $20 million, are given to eligible individuals who report
verifiable instances of corporate software piracy. In 2007, SIIA issued 26
rewards to individuals who reported incidents of corporate end-user software
piracy. 

"Corporate software piracy hurts American businesses, damages our economy and
undercuts innovation and creativity," said Keith Kupferschmid SIIA's SVP of
Intellectual Property Policy and Enforcement.  "People who help track down
corporate pirates play an important role in protecting businesses that play by
the rules and ensuring the future competitiveness of our software industry."

Kupferschmid continued, "SIIA is committed to rewarding individuals who help
stop software piracy in the workplace.  Our industry-leading reward program is
an effective tool for encouraging individuals to provide accurate and reliable
reports of software and content piracy.   We value the extensive cooperation
and information our sources provide and the reward program is one way we show
our appreciation for their efforts in helping us combat corporate software
piracy."

Individuals interested in learning more about the Reward Program or submitting
a piracy report can do so through SIIA's hotline at 800.388.7478 or SIIA's
online Piracy Report Form at http://www.siia.net/piracy/report.

For almost 20 years, SIIA's Corporate Anti-Piracy program has been a national
leader in combating software piracy in the workplace.  In 2007, SIIA received
427 reports of alleged corporate end-user piracy - more than one and a half
per business day. 


About SIIA
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade
association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides
global services in government relations, business development, corporate
education and intellectual property protection to more than 800 leading
software and information companies. For further information, visit
http://www.siia.net.




SOURCE  Software & Information Industry Association

Keith Kupferschmid of SIIA, +1-202-789-4442, keithk@siia.net
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