Merge Healthcare of Milwaukee is launching a software amnesty program designed to enable healthcare facilities with illegal copies of its eFilm Workstation software to convert to legal versions without penalty.
The company said that since 2003, more than 100,000 copies of eFilm Workstation have been downloaded from the company's Web site. Merge charges $950 for an annual license to use eFilm Workstation.
However, software cracks that enable users to circumvent eFilm's licensing protections are readily available on the Internet, and Merge has received anecdotal reports of pirated versions of eFilm Workstation in use at healthcare facilities, according to Nancy Koenig, president of the company's Merge Fusion division. Pirated versions of eFilm don't have the software's latest updates and other fixes, she noted.
To address the problem, Merge plans to offer users of pirated versions of eFilm the opportunity to upgrade to a legal version without penalty through December 31. They will be required to pay the annual license fee as part of the process of converting to legal versions, Koenig said.
As of January 1, Merge will begin enforcing its copyright protections, and the company has registered as a member of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), an industry group that works against software pirating. The SIIA will begin auditing organizations that reportedly do not have compliant eFilm Workstation licenses and will seek damages against anyone with illegal copies. The penalty for using pirated software is $3,400 per violation.
Users of eFilm software who aren't sure whether they are using legal copies of the software can check their status at www.authenticefilm.com. The site also has applications and forms for participating in the amnesty process, according to Koenig.
Related Reading
Merge launches offsite disaster recovery program, September 5, 2008
Merge sales dip in 2008 Q2, August 12, 2008
Merge inks Oklahoma PACS mammo deal, August 7, 2008
Merge regains Nasdaq compliance, July 10, 2008
Merge gets Fusion PACS MX install, July 8, 2008
Copyright © 2008 AuntMinnie.com
