Controversial anti-piracy measure introduced in Congress

A bill that would create tough new rules and punishments for violating intellectual property law online was introduced this week in the House of Representatives as H.R. 3261, drawing praise from Business Software Alliance president Robert Holleyman.

"The most common way home and enterprise users engage in software piracy is to buy one copy of a program and then install it on more computers than the license allows. But online piracy is a growing problem for the software industry, too," he said in a statement.

However, Bloomberg reported that many groups reacted with dismay to the bill, saying that it would harm legitimate websites and disrupt the internet. The news agency also noted that Senator Ron Wyden has said he would block a similar proposal in that chamber.

The measure, if passed, would likely provoke new urgency for upgraded license management systems at businesses, at least in the United States, in order to ensure all software in use is legitimate. Globally, piracy is slowly on the decline, though the BSA has said that the practice continues to undercut enterprise software revenue.