US Army Caught Pirating Software, Pays Out A $50m Settlement

[6souls]

The US government has agreed to pay $50m (£31m) after it was said to have pirated "thousands" of copies of military software.

Apptricity, based in Texas, has provided logistics programs to the army since 2004.

The company said it had discovered last year the software had been installed on many more machines than had been licensed.

The Department of Justice has not commented on the settlement.

The Dallas Morning News reported a DoJ spokeswoman had confirmed the agreement, but would not give more details.

Apptricity's software allows the military to track the movements of soldiers as well as key supplies.

It has also been used during relief efforts, most notably in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.

According to court documents filed in 2012, the deal with the military meant up to 500 named users could access the software.

Apptricity later estimated that 9,000 users were accessing the program, in addition to the 500 that had been paid for.

The unauthorised copying only came to light after a US Army official mentioned "thousands" of devices running the software during a presentation on technology.

Apptricity called for $224m (£137m) to be paid to cover costs.

The settlement of $50m falls some way short - but in a statement the company said Apptricity would spend the sum on expanding the company.

"Apptricity is now incredibly energised to use the settlement resolution as a catalyst for aggressive investment in our team, our solutions and our untapped market opportunities," said Randy Lieberman, Apptricity's chief financial officer.

In recent years, the US government has stepped up efforts to combat piracy, announcing a wide-ranging strategy for clamping down in 2010.

"Piracy is theft, clean and simple," remarked vice-president Joe Biden at the time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25137089
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/b...50-million.ece

The Army will remain as a client

According to the Dallas Morning News, the licensing agreement authorized the US Army to use its software on five servers and "several thousand" workstations. The government paid $1.35 million for each server, and used the software to track the movements of troops and supplies. In February, 2012 Apptricity filed a suit against the government, asking for $224.5 million in damages after it discovered that the Army had installed its software on nearly 100 servers and 11,000 workstations — about 9,000 more than the authorized limit.

Apptricity says it will use the $50 million settlement to expand the company, and it won't be losing the Army as a client, either. Company president and co-founder Tim Garcia says both sides treated the matter with professionalism, adding that the lawsuit will not affect Apptricity's relationship with the Department of Defense.

"There was a realization that a mistake had been made, and it needed to be fixed," Garcia told the Dallas Morning News. "It’s like a marriage. Sometimes you really don't want to be around each other, but it doesn't mean you are going to break it off."

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/29/5...ase-apptricity

Press Release

Spoiler: show

Apptricity, provider of Mobile Enterprise software solutions, announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Army have agreed to settle a copyright infringement claim for $50 million.

The claim stemmed from the over-deployment of unlicensed logistics enterprise software that is mission critical to managing troop and supply movements in theater operations around the world.

“Field commanders were focused on the mission-critical nature of Apptricity software and the need to protect warfighters and facilitate mission objectives,” said Tim Garcia, Apptricity’s chief executive officer. “Our battle-tested integrated logistics software performed so well that it went viral.”

In 2004, the U.S. Army selected Apptricity to provide core components of its commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) supply chain software suite as the foundation of its Transportation Coordinators’ Automated Information for Movements System II (TC-AIMS II). The system manages all aspects of transportation management, from the movement of military units to the loading of supplies on vehicles and rotary aircraft headed to forward operating bases.

The system enables Joint Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration capabilities associated with the movement of goods, equipment and troops from ports of debarkation to staging areas and then to forward tactical areas.

Apptricity software allows movements to be tracked in real time, rather than by map points, across multiple time zones. Tracking is granular to the level of an item’s location in a specific compartment on a particular ground or air transport vehicle or at its destination. The software also incorporates dashboard capabilities that display intuitive, standard reports and sophisticated, customized slices of data. The result is command visibility on a single screen.

The Army has used Apptricity’s integrated transportation logistics and asset management software across the Middle East and other theaters of operation. The Army has also used the software to coordinate emergency management initiatives, including efforts following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

In its copyright infringement claim, Apptricity sought compensation for approximately 100 server and 9,000 device licenses the U.S. Army installed and fielded globally – but did not procure. After Alternative Dispute Resolution proceedings, the parties agreed to settle for $50 million. The figure represents a fraction of the software’s negotiated contract value that provides a material quantity of server and device licenses for ongoing and future Department of Defense usage.

“Now that this process is behind us, it is envisioned the Apptricity and Army relationship will continue to grow exponentially,” said retired Maj. Gen. Tim McHale, an Apptricity senior advisor.

“Apptricity is now incredibly energized to use the settlement resolution as a catalyst for aggressive investment in our team, our solutions and our untapped market opportunities,” said Randy Lieberman, Apptricity’s chief financial officer and lead on the government negotiations. “Our principal priority never shifted: ensuring that our intellectual property drives global efficiencies in commercial, educational and federal enterprises.”

http://www.apptricity.com/press/u-s-...ty-50-million/

[notorious bum]

lol derp, they only did it because it was cool.

[Nephlite]

Sucks since the Army is already strapped for cash, however, I have a feeling the long-term investment for such valuable software will probably make them come out on top. Especially if the program was top-tier in the beginning, the money will allow the company to make even better programs for the military. Wonder how many other companies are going to start investigating the Military for this type of thing as I'm sure this isn't the only thing they've pirated (unlocked fully accessible Photoshop, anyone?)

[Quicklet]

$50m sounds like a drop in the bucket for defense spending. I'm sure that software has a stupidly expensive markup though (like any "professional" software).

[6souls]

I'm sure that software has a stupidly expensive markup though (like any "professional" software).

The government paid $1.35 million for each server

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/29/5...ase-apptricity

Yeah, a little.

[Athas]

Why would military software be limited like this in the first place?

[AoE]

$$

[Athas]

Yeah but far as I know military contracts always go to the lowest bidder.

[BaneTheBrawler]

no, they go to the most connected bidder. half the time there isnt even more than one.

[Nephlite]

Or if they can't decide who gets the contract, they pay in to both to fund development and front a portion of the budget. Whoever gives a better or more complete product gets the remainder and the royalties.

[Meresgi]

The government paid $1.35 million for each server

Skynet is pricey.

Yeah but far as I know military contracts always go to the lowest bidder.

Not anymore with zero bid contracts! Its all about the connections. Look at the Obamacare site and how fucking SAIC was part of it's construction, even though SAIC fucked up the entire FBI system after going 200million over budget, it was so fucked up the FBI scrapped it entirely.

[Callisto]

You wouldn't download a drone.

[Meresgi]

Sucks since the Army is already strapped for cash

They should sell some of the tanks the government keeps sending them that they don't need lol.

[Salodin]

They should sell some of the tanks the government keeps sending them that they don't need lol.

To our Israeli brothers amiright

[Meresgi]

To our Israeli brothers amiright

Of course not! We sell them to whoever will give us the most oilzzzzzzzz!