Licenses And Ethics?

EthicalQuanderer asks: "So I'm a software developer that came onto a project and picked up someone else's work. About a week after I started I found a package that was deeply integrated into our project was under a GPLish license for private/educational use, with a specific clause against commercial use without a separate licence to be negotiated with the author. I made an issue of it at the time, and was assured it was something that would be taken care of. Now, a significant time later, I found out that we're in talks with the author for said license after we've used this stuff for well over a year. And the author is demanding sums of money that the company doesn't want to pay." In situations like this, where you've done as much as possible to avert the oncomming train that management was blind to, it may be best to tidy up, pack everything and move on.

"So now the management is making sounds about cleaning up the codebase to remove the offending code, but only where it's in parts that might be exposed to customers. Basically, it seems to be a "fix it where we might be caught, and continue to cheat where we can" kind of mentality. I realize that there are other issues here; we already violated the license, and the author is entitled to something for the use we've already gotten from the work, but that's another issue altogether.

I like my work and co-workers a lot, these schoolground ethics come from a few people at the top. So my question is, what is my ethical path through this? Do I blow the whistle to the author to give fair warning that the company isn't dealing on the level and let them deal with it? Do I issue an ultimatum to the company to fix the problems or else lose me?

I'm open to any suggestions except "let it lie, and trust that it will be fixed". I've tried that one."

This is a terrible situation for a developer to find herself in. More than likely any action that she makes, whether it be making demands to management, blowing the whistle, or even refusing to perform the work, will land her on the unemployment line. However, there comes a time when it is you as the developer that must make the decision and "do the right thing", not only for yourself, but for the company that employs you. When faced with a decision like this, would you take one of the above alternatives or is there another choice that can be discussed?