BSA gets $1.5m after CD-ROM crackdown

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has received $1.5m from its backers following a series of recoveries of CD-ROM's containing pirated software.

The BSA declined to reveal the names of the companies involved, but its members include Adobe, Apple, Corel, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates and Symantec.

According to a BSA spokesman, CD-ROM replicators are often legitimate firms, and it is the distribution that is managed by criminals.

The organistion has proposed specific CD-ROM copyright legislation to the European Parliament, which suggests closer supervision of manufacturers registration and licensing.

The CD-ROM replication industry is expanding in Europe, growing from producing one billion disks in 1997 to five billion in 1999.