The
U.S. Army just paid a $50 million settlement over accusations that it
illegally installed software on thousands of devices without a license.
Even after the settlement, the Army ended up saving a bunch of cash.
Maybe crime really does pay?
The court battle, revealed this week by The Washington Post,
centers around personnel-tracking software made by Apptricity. The Army
originally purchased a number of software licenses from Apptricity in
2004, with a second purchase about five years later. But the Army kept
installing the software even after its licenses had run out, eventually
putting unaccounted copies on 100 servers and 9,000 devices.
It would seem the overshoot was not a mistake: Apptricity's complaint
alleges that in or before the year 2010, the Army hired a different
contractor to reverse-engineer portions of the unlicensed software, to
avoid being held accountable for the unpaid fees.
All told, the Washington Post
calculates the purchase price of the illegally copied software at
around $180 million, not including support and maintenance. If the
allegations are true, it sure sounds like the Army came out ahead on the
deal. [Washington Post]
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