Another week and another example reaches us about how the Federation Against Software Theft (Fast) is using half-truths and scare tactics to convince IT managers to pay for its software asset management services.

Less than a month ago, we revealed how Fast was exploiting a change in Trading Standards legislation to try to terrify IT managers into thinking there was a real risk that a Trading Standards officer could "come knocking on your door". The reality is that Trading Standards is unlikely to use its new powers to pursue software users. However, yet again Fast agents (or should that be salespeople?) are not letting the truth get in the way of a good scare story.

One IT Week reader has been in touch to say he was recently visited by a Fast agent who, after offering software compliance training for the princely sum of £2,995, told him that one of the licensing risks he should be aware of was that "you can't download Google Earth onto a company laptop for personal viewing because the licence states 'not for commercial use' and just installing it on a commercial laptop is, effectively, commercial".

It sounds plausible enough and any sensible, risk-aware IT chief would take note of the warning. The only problem is that, according to Google, it's just not true.

Trevor Callaghan, Google's senior product counsel for Europe, explains that, as far as the search giant is concerned, it is how you use the product, not the machine it is used on, that determines whether it is being used commercially or not.

"Having [Google Earth] on a corporate laptop for your personal use is absolutely fine," Callaghan said. "If you use it for marketing then that is commercial and we'd prefer you used a more suitable product, such as Google Earth Pro, which has support." Fast, for its part, declined to comment

The most worrying thing about this latest accusation is that, once again, Fast has taken a legitimate risk that managers should be aware of and spun it into a greater risk that just doesn't exist.

The last thing busy IT managers need is someone implying they should be worried about all free applications on company laptops. But that said, where the line falls between commercial and personal software use is an issue IT managers need to address, and if staff are using Google Earth for marketing purposes then IT chiefs may want to block downloads or pay for the corporate version.

The danger with Fast's strategy is that IT chiefs will realise that warnings from the organisation are almost completely unfounded, but in dismissing these scare stories, they could overlook some genuine licensing risks that they should be addressing.