[justlurking]

I forgot that I wanted to add something else that I found in the article you referenced:

Ernie Ball ended up settling with the BSA over claims related to use of unlicensed software to the tune of $90,000. Ball said, however, that he emerged from the ordeal critical of the way the problem is approached. The audit was prompted by an anonymous call to the BSA's antipiracy hotline by a disgruntled ex-employee, and concluded when armed U.S. Marshals shut down his IT system during a raid of the company's offices, he said.

Does anyone else find this alarming? Combined with the owner's comment in the other article, they went streight from an anonymous tip to armed US Marshals showing up on his doorstep.

There was no "compelling evidence". Had someone simply notified him of the allegation, he would have probably conducted an audit of his own, cleared up any problems, and then invited them in for an independent office to verify that he was in compliance.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Drug SWAT raids are launched on no more than this. I'm not surprised.

[Golden Eagle]

The audit was prompted by an anonymous call to the BSA's antipiracy hotline by a disgruntled ex-employee, and concluded when armed U.S. Marshals shut down his IT system during a raid of the company's offices.

What happened between point A and point B is clearly ommited. It said "concluded", but didn't give the details of what happened leading up to that. I won't even venture a guess as to the entire details, but it was probably an admin type that originally reported it.

[Bush2000]

Does anyone else find this alarming? Combined with the owner's comment in the other article, they went streight from an anonymous tip to armed US Marshals showing up on his doorstep.

You couldn't be more wrong. In order to get US Marshals to execute a search warrant, they would need a court order. In order to get a court order, they would have to show probable cause to a federal judge. That isn't easy. In your fantasy world, the Marshals skipped the search warrant and went directly over to Ball's office. Still want to pursue that line of reasoning?

There was no "compelling evidence".

Tell that to the federal judge who approved the warrant.

Had someone simply notified him of the allegation, he would have probably conducted an audit of his own, cleared up any problems, and then invited them in for an independent office to verify that he was in compliance.

That's a nice fantasy. Cinderella's castle is on your right.