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By Joey Gardiner, 24 May 2000 00:30

NEWS IT departments are not doing enough to make board members aware of their legal duty to ensure all software in their organisation is legal. That's the view of the Federation Against Software Theft (Fast), whose CEO, Geoff Webster, told silicon.com that IT managers must do more to regain control over the software on their networks. Research by Fast and KPMG showed that while more than 60 per cent of firms feel there is a high legal risk to their organisation from pirated software, only one-fifth of senior management take the issue seriously. Webster said system managers need to sell the issue to board members, who are ultimately legally liable. He said: "Often IT staff feel too busy keeping the business going to worry about this. But they have to explain very clearly to the company - particularly the board of directors - that this is an issue." Webster warned company directors could end up in prison if piracy policies weren't enforced. He also suggested companies could realise large cost savings - from purchasing efficiencies and the reduction of support problems - by stamping out illegal software. Frank Coyle, IT director at John Menzies, said: "We have a rigorous security policy which fortunately is fully backed by the board. Problems can occur when the company desktop becomes a political football within the firm, with departments trying to gain control over their systems. This opens the door for illegal software." Robert Dickie, IT manager for engineering group McKean Group, said it was hard to get complete control over the network. He said: "If IT managers were personally liable, I'm fairly sure there would be more IT managers taking more steps to stop piracy."