Management Bios

Robert W. Holleyman, III
President and Chief Executive Officer
Business Software Alliance

Robert Holleyman is president and chief executive officer of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). Holleyman has headed the alliance since 1990, overseeing its operations in more than 85 countries, including offices in London, Singapore and Beijing. Holleyman has been active in leading the industry’s efforts to expand into emerging markets including China and Eastern Europe. He is widely known for his work on policy-related issues affecting the technology industry including international copyright laws, cyber security, trade and electronic commerce.

Jeffrey Hardee
Vice President, BSA Asia
Business Software Alliance

Jeffrey Hardee is Vice President, BSA Asia and is based in Singapore. He is responsible for administration of the region and policy matters. Before joining BSA, Mr. Hardee worked for eight years with the Motion Picture Association (MPA) as Vice President Asia-Pacific. In this capacity, he worked on market access issues and legislation to protect copyrights and promote e-commerce. Prior to MPA, Mr. Hardee was with the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC). He began there in 1983 as a Presidential Management Intern and went on to lead the Malaysia/Singapore/ Brunei desk and the Taiwan desk. His last assignment with USDOC was with the Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he served from 1988-1992.

Mr. Hardee earned his bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Duke University and his master of public affairs degree from the University of Texas in Austin.

Karen Y. Knutson
Vice President, Government Relations
Business Software Alliance

Karen Knutson is BSA’s Vice President, Government Relations, responsible for its U.S. and global public policy programs. Ms. Knutson coordinates BSA’s policy activities in more than 80 countries around the globe where BSA has operations, and with its nine foreign offices. She directs BSA’s strategy and implementation of policy campaigns on issues of critical importance to the high tech industry including intellectual property protection, patent reform, cyber security, trade, electronic commerce and other issues related to Internet policy.

Previous to joining BSA, Ms. Knutson was Vice President of Government Relations at ML Strategies, a Washington, DC, strategic development, legislative and public affairs firm affiliated with the law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo. From 2001 to 2003, Ms. Knutson was Deputy Assistant to Vice President Cheney for Domestic Policy. She served as Deputy Director of the National Energy Policy Development Group where she was instrumental in drafting the President’s National Energy Policy. Ms. Knutson also served as the Legislative Director to Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and as Appropriations Counsel for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX). Her career in Washington began as a legislative assistant for then Senator and now Governor Frank Murkowski (R-AK).

Ms. Knutson received her B.A. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and her J.D. from Wake Forest University Law School.

Neil MacBride
Vice President, Legal Affairs
Business Software Alliance

Neil MacBride is Vice President of Legal Affairs and directs BSA’s international and domestic anti-piracy and compliance programs and its efforts against Internet crime. Mr. MacBride manages regional counsels and programs in North America, Latin America and Europe.

Prior to joining BSA, Mr. MacBride served for four years as counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee and four years of service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. As chief counsel and staff director to Senator Joseph Biden, Mr. MacBride worked to establish the bi-partisan, bi-cameral International Anti-piracy Caucus and provided guidance on crime, intellectual property, intelligence, counter-terrorism and other issues. And at the Justice Department, he investigated, indicted and prosecuted a variety of crimes.

He previously worked as an attorney with the former DC law firm of Verner, Lipfert Bernhard, McPherson & Hand, where his practice included white collar defense and legislative/regulatory issues. He also served as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. in the Eastern District of Virginia. Mr. MacBride is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and has a B.A. from Houghton College.

Beth Scott
Vice President, Compliance and Marketing
Business Software Alliance

Ms. Scott is responsible for BSA's compliance and marketing programs in North and South America, Europe, Middle and Africa. She drives through directing, developing and implementing PR and marketing campaigns that raise awareness for the risks of software piracy and expand the market for legitimate software.

Ms. Scott joined BSA in 1998 with 13 years experience in the software industry including eight years with Adobe Systems at its European headquarters in the Netherlands and then Scotland. She held several positions with the company during that period concluding as creative services manager for its European advertising and marketing programs. Ms. Scott also worked as an information systems analyst before specialising in marketing and communications.

She holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and a post-graduate in marketing from Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.

Diane Smiroldo
Vice President, Public Affairs
Business Software Alliance

Diane Smiroldo is Vice President of Public Affairs at BSA. She directs the organization's communications and public affairs programs including marketing and education activities, media relations, global branding and message development programs. Ms. Smiroldo joined the BSA in 1992, with a decade of experience in strategic communications. Before joining BSA, she managed the Edison Electric Institute's media relations activities and message development programs on a variety of issues including the environment. Ms. Smiroldo also worked at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management where she developed and conducted seminars on the congressional and legislative process and regulatory procedures.

Ms. Smiroldo holds a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in political science and sociology.

Scott Van Hove
Vice President, Global Operations
Business Software Alliance

Scott Van Hove is Vice President of Global Operations for the Business Software Alliance (BSA). He supervises administrative functions for BSA including finance, human resources and metrics. He is also responsible for Europe operations and assists with Asia programs.

From 1987 through 1998, Van Hove worked for Manor Care, Inc., a publicly traded Fortune 500 company previously based in the Washington, D.C., area. His most recent position was as Executive Vice President of Operations. Prior to that, he worked for a law firm as well as Arthur Andersen & Co., both in Washington.

Van Hove graduated magna cum laude from Augustana College and he received his law degree from the University of South Dakota Law School, where he graduated with honors. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the D.C. Institute of CPAs.