If you think companies will only go after those who only make thousands of bootleg copies of software to sell, you may be surprised by a visit from the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) looking for businesses that haven't paid for all of the software being used on software computers.

The SIIA points to several reasons to avoid pirated software. First and foremost, it's illegal. If sued for civil copyright infringement, the penalty can be as much as $100,000 per title infringed. For criminal violation, it can mean as much as $250,000 and five years in prison.

To prove that you own software, the SIIA will look for positive proof-invoices, product licenses or canceled checks to demonstrate copyright compliance.

Another reason to avoid using pirated software is reliability. Unless you are certain that your software is from an authorized source, you could be buying incompatible software without technical support, and maybe even a computer virus.

Finally, you may be hurting yourself by not taking advantage of the economic benefits of many new software licenses.

But how do you know if you are using software illegally?

When buying software, a reputable dealer will provide original discs, manuals, registration and a license agreement. If these items are not available, don't buy the product.

You are probably engaging in illegal activity if you purchased a single-user license and loaded it on multiple computers or a server, distribute copies that appear to be from an unauthorized source, rent software or download software from the Internet without the permission of the copyright holder.

For more information contact SIIA at 1730 M. Street, N.W., #700, Washington, DC 20035, 202-452-1600 or www.siia.net.