Note: This article originally appeared in the November/December issue of DENA (Designing Electronics North America).

In September 2023, SEMI announced plans to begin licensing its server certification protocol, an industry-developed solution to combat software piracy, which is a growing and costly concern for software vendors and their users.

This three-year project was managed by the Electronic System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance), a SEMI Technology Community, with Cadence Design Systems, Siemens EDA, and Synopsys participating in the development effort to provide strong protection against piracy. The protocol was reviewed and approved by an independent group of semiconductor companies that rely on EDA tools in their business operations, thereby giving it a user seal of approval.

Unauthorized use of licensed software—more commonly known as software piracy—is a problem that impacts both providers and users of licensed software. Industry reports estimate unauthorized access to software costs the industry billions of dollars annually.

The Software Alliance—the leading advocate for the global software industry whose members create software solutions that help businesses modernize and grow—estimates that unlicensed and counterfeit software costs companies nearly $359 billion per year. Of course, unauthorized compliance covers a range of piracy, from malware and ransomware to other critical security threats. Unlicensed software is estimated to cost companies nearly $46 billion a year in revenue.
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