The U.S. software industries continue to encounter serious difficulties in fighting piracy in Spain. This is among the highest levels in all of Western Europe. This cooperation resulted in the convening of the First International Police Conference on Computer Software piracy in Madrid in March 1997, bringing together police experts from across Western and Eastern Europe. This cooperation has also led to at least seven known raids over the past year, a welcome increase over previous year that hopefully signals continued growth in enforcement in the coming year. The impact of raids on resellers continues to be diluted, however, by the slow pace of both civil and criminal court proceedings, and the inadequate level of penalties assessed against infringers.
Criminal cases take three to five years to move through the courts after a police raid.
One criminal matter dating back to a 1990 raid was still pending before a Spanish court, with no hearing date yet set, when the BSA decided to withdraw its criminal complaint in May 1997 following a settlement. These fines are very low in comparison to both the profits the illegal sellers amassed, and in comparison to the damages caused to the BSA member companies. In addition, the various defendants jail sentence between two and six month were all suspended. Penalties such as these discourage present or would-be counterfeiters. The most serious problems, however, involve efforts to bring deterrent enforcement actions against illegal copying by business end-users.