The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) is a

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

dedicated to the entertainment, consumer and business software industries. Established in 1984 as the Software Publishers Association (SPA), the SIIA took its new name when it merged with the related Information Industry Association on January 1, 1999. The joint enterprise was headed by Software Publishers Association founder Ken Wasch and operated out of the SPA's existing offices. The SPA was active in lobbying, industry research and anti-piracy efforts, and was behind the 1992 Don't Copy That Floppy campaign. The organization's head of research, Ann Stephens, went on to found PC Data in 1991. By 1995, the SPA had over 1,100 software companies in its membership and according to '' Wired'' was among "the most powerful computer-related trade groups" before its merger with the Information Industry Association. While

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

became a member of the SPA in 1986, it split with the SIIA in 2000 after the group sided against Microsoft in '' United States v. Microsoft Corp.'' The '' Wall Street Journal'' described Microsoft as the SIIA's "largest member" before the departure. Until 1999, the Software Publishers Association hosted the SPA Annual Conference for software companies. It was renamed the InfoSoft Essentials conference in 1999.

Divisions

Public Policy ~ legal and public policy
IP Protection ~ protecting software content
Connectiv ~ business information
ETIN ~ Education Technology
FISD ~ Financial & Information
SIPA ~ Specialized Information Publishers
SSD ~ Software & Services

Advocacy

Don't Copy That Floppy

''Don't Copy That Floppy'' was an anti- copyright infringement campaign run by the SPA beginning in 1992. The video for the campaign, starring M. E. Hart as "MC Double Def DP", was filmed at Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C. and produced by cooperation between the SPA, the Educational Section Anti-Piracy Committee, and the Copyright Protection Fund, in association with Vilardi Films. The groups distributed the film for general viewing through VHS tapes that were mailed to schools. In later years, the film became an internet meme on websites such as

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Alongside the internet popularity, a clip of it was also used for a sample by American indie pop band TV Girl.

Legal cases

SIIA filed briefs in Allen v. Cooper, which was decided in 2020: the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

abrogated the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act as unconstitutional, SIIA had argued the opposite view.

Awards ceremonies

CODiE Awards

Beginning in 1986, the Software Publishers Association hosted the "Excellence in Software Awards" ceremony, an annual black-tie event that ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' compared to the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. The Excellence in Software Awards were later renamed the "CODiE Awards", and are now presented by the Software and Information Industry Association. The CODiE are awards to two broad categories: business technology and education technology. There are awards in more than 75 categories, advertised with the statement, "With a grand total of more than 75 different categories, you're sure to find several to meet your marketing/PR objectives!". Notable past winners include companies such as Adobe, BrainPOP,

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

, Knewton,

McGraw-Hill Education McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

, Jigsaw, Netsuite, Red Hat,

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a Rosetta Stone decree, decree issued in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt, Egypt, on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts ...

, Salesforce.com, Digimind, Scribe Software, Vocus, WSJ.com, codemantra, IXL Learning, itslearning, and more.

Jesse H. Neal Awards

The Jesse H. Neal Awards were created in 1955 for editorial excellence in business Media and named after Jesse H. Neal, Connectiv's first managing director. Nations Restaurant News says winning the Neal Award is like winning the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for Business-to-business (B2B) platforms. Entries are judged in three areas ~ editorial craftsmanship, extent of service to the field and journalistic enterprise. Out of the 21 categories one winner will be selected for The Grand Neal Award. As of 2018 there have been 23 winners of The Grand Neal Award. In 2019 John Heltman, Business and Finance Reporter with American Banker and SourceMedia won with Nobody's Home

References

External links

* *{{cite web , url=https://www.siia.net/codie/About-the-Awards/Past-Winners , title=Past Winners , work=SIIA CODiE Awards , access-date=January 13, 2017 , archive-date=August 16, 2019 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816124600/http://www.siia.net/codie/About-the-Awards/Past-Winners , url-status=dead Technology trade associations Computer-related awards