Insurer Donegal Pays $105K to Settle Software-Licensing Issues

July 13, 2009

Pennsylvania-based Donegal Mutual Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $105,000 to settle claims that it used unlicensed copies of Microsoft software on its computer systems, a trade group for software makers said.

The Business Software Alliance, which represents the world’s commercial software industry, said Donegal has agreed to delete unlicensed copies of software on its computers, or purchase licenses for the software it’s using.

The alliance said it was alerted to the theft by its Web sie, nopiracy.com, where users can confidentially report software licensing violations. The majority of the alliance’s leads come from current or former employees who had information related to the unlicensed software activity.

Software whistle blowers who provide qualified reports of software piracy can receive up to $1 million in cash from the group, which last year paid a total of $136,100 to 42 individuals. The Business Software Alliance says many opt not to take the rewards.

Upon learning of the licensing problem, Donegal said the company immediately came into compliance.

Source: Business Software Alliance

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