Hi all,
Need some advise from you guys. My company just got a lawyer letter stating they represented some USA 3D CAD Software company (not Autocad).
The letter said they have online activities that ties one of our computer in our network is using their software. They reveal the computer name that is one of our domain PC.
The registered mail asked us to contact their lawyer in 7 days to settle this.

So now how? what option do I have? And are there sufficient evident for them to bring our company to court?

I'm no software expert, but I'd advise you to lookup and call the company HQ directly to see if they really sent you a legal letter, in case it's a scam.

+1

Are you really using it illegally ? If they have tracked down to the exact computer, then its likely, their software has a backdoor that connects to their network.

It would be prudent to just contact them to talk and ask them what do they want ? If you have been using their software illegally, then you will likely need to ask them for a way out.

Or you can do the Malaysian thing and ignore them.

contact their lawyer to settle?
sounds like a scam already.

I can assure you that is very normal especially for niche software.

I deal with this on a corporate setting a lot .

Thats why I asked the TS, whether they knowingly use this software via pirated means.

The letter not from from software company. It was sent buy lawyer firm that said they represented the software company.

I would advise, first to find the PC and confirm the allegation.

Then Confirm the lawyer is legit.

And the phone no is genuine.

reply let's say we use it in pirated means. The software released in around 2010.

well one needs to be very careful nowadays.
this method of scam has been done before.

like standard sop for scaming.. better check first before making action

That's why I asked everyone here for what my best action is.

To conclude my case. One employer of my company really installed the software in one our our domain PC and using it. I checked, it was installed August 2018.
The letter comes from Lawyer firm with letterhead and contact info of the lawyers and they 'encourage' us to contact them asap.

My thinking is take the PC and make it disappeared. Because uninstall or format the PC won't work, they probably have the MAC address of the motherboard already.
Then ignore the lawyer and see what they do next.
I just want to cover all my grounds here. I would like to know the online activities that trace back to our company IP address etc. Is it sufficient evidence to bring any
lawsuit to our company under Malaysia law.

well you have to prepare for the worst if it indeed happen.

the lawyer firm is malaysian or foreign?
confirm the lawyer firm is legit before contacting them.

like the others mentioned if the lawyer firm is legit, contact them and hear them out first so you can decide what to do.
but be careful not to say anything and just hear them out.

you may make the PC disappeared but they can still lodge a report to the local authorities based on the evidence they have.
they can still raid your office and take all related IT equipment for investigation.
they may not have the hard evidence in the end but its a big hassle for your company.

sometimes paying the penalty is easier if the amount is not much.

good luck.

your direct communication with them might be recorded/logged as evidence

make sure you consult or hire a lawyer to talk on behalf of your cpmpany.
this is to avoid further damage & minimize the impact.

the staff who installed it & manager/supervisor need to be accountable too.

This might be an odd question. Have your company profited from using this software? Does the usage of the software involved in anyway of your company delivery? Perhaps files generated by the software was sent to client/supplier and was approved and cash flow generated. Who knows, maybe those files have meta details embedded in it, saying it was produced by this software at this time and location and such. Read on EURion constellation. Those information could be inside the files digitally, or inside the plan itself, some random shading and such.

I would say, there might have concrete proof already. You might make the PC dissapear, but its possible that traces are all over the place.

And yes, you might still have a way out if somewhere in the contract forbids the staff from installing illegal software, or without permission and such. I know a few place have a specific IT usage contract need to be signed by employee.

1.) How much does the software cost?
2.) Do you really need that software for your business or is there any alternative.
3.) If you really need that software, just pay the license.
4.) If you cannot afford that software, find the alternative.
Simple as that.

We need to use the software, many years ago it cost around rm20k.
But at this point I am not sure buying the license now can solve anything. If we have a guaranty that buying the license now can resolve this
then we might buy it. But question is how do get get the assurance?

You received a letter or an e-mail?

more like a scam, because 1) US companies know better than to waste effort trying to track down pirates in asia
2) auditing checks whether or not you use pirated software.

Even microsoft doesnt chase businesses who pirate ms products, but they do get their money when audits reveal they didnt buy the license.

So if they claim the software is pirated, very likely its just some malware. go to that PC find out what its running. A backdoor is illegal so incase it is legit you can find some law that says that their backdoor is illegal.

Make sure to check whether or not said software is really on said PC and who installed it. A lot of times they only send these letters if you are torrenting from that PC and the software so happens to be faked just so they can track you, if this is the case they actually have no legal case against you as long as the software that was on torrent was fake.

If you are willing to buy the software, contact the owner directly instead of getting feedback from a forum.
That's no harm just to ask how much is the software and the price to own it.
The owner of the software is the one that have to sole right to decide how much they want to charge you.
They want steady income. If your business is sustainable, they will probably want to get longer licensing in the future instead of charging your previous usage.


This post has been edited by WongGei: Apr 9 2019, 01:50 PM