Sony BMG accused of using pirated software

Small French software developer PointDev is suing Sony BMG saying it uses pirated copies of PointDev's Ideal Migration software.

The application manages Windows domain consolidations and provides migration tools to move networks to Windows 2000 and 2003. Sony is being accused of using this software without a license.

Sony's position smacks of irony, considering that it, along with other record labels have taken a hardline stance against piracy. Its offices were raided in January after PointDev obtained a search warrant from the courts.

In those raids, at least four servers were found with unlicensed copies of Ideal Migration on them. They were seized as evidence, which PointDev has used as a basis for its suit against the company.

"We are not interested in an amicable settlement. It is not just a question of money but more importantly in principle," CEO Agustoni Paul-Henry said. He also implies that piracy may be a problem overall within the company.

Paul-Henry said he plans to make an example out of Sony to ensure that other companies know they will not be free from prosecution.

"I think piracy is linked to the policy of a company. If the employee has the necessary funding to buy the software they need, it will," a translation of the report from La Province reads. "If this is not the case, he will find alternative ways, as the work must be done in one way or another."

Essentially, the company feels that this is not the work of a single employee, but is rather an act of ignorance by the company overall, meaning it could be endemic.

Sony reportedly attempted to have the La Province report quashed, but has otherwise remained quiet about the case.