Property Rights and the MSDN PDA Give-Away?

An anonymous reader asks: "MSDN subscribers recently qualified for a free Viewsonic V37 PDA (supposedly, around 25,000 units were given away). The software development group, at my company, just received our shipments; however, now there is contention between the developers and the company over who owns the PDAs. The company I work for (a worldwide information technology and services company) contends that that they own the PDAs because they were obtained through a subscription purchased by the company and, therefore, the PDAs are company property (and so all company policies governing the use of their property applies). This upset quite a few developers in my group who were excited to have a new gadget to work/play with and now any tinkering must be approved by the company. So, who owns the PDAs -- the developers who found out about the promotion, filled out the forms, paid for the stamps, on their own initiative, etc. or the company who purchased the MSDN subscriptions to make the developers eligible for the 'free' promotion? Also, I am curious to find out if others are having similar debates at their respective companies. Details of the offer can be found here."

Comments

Company policies

[menscher]

I've seen companies that don't let employees use their work email address (which the company pays for) for personal email.

Also seen companies that claim they own the frequent-flier miles that employees accumulate, since they paid for the tickets.

Seems like an unpleasant work environment. They'd probably do better to let the employees make use of things that don't cost the company extra. Certainly helps morale, which in turn helps productivity.

Ummmm...

[Breakerofthings]

So, what if you paid for the subscription, and your manager pointed out the deal ... who do you think that it should belong to, then?

Personally, were it my decision to make at your company, I would let you have them; it is a windfall, and would make for a good faith gesture on the company's part.
But, if the company paid for the subscription, and this is a realized, tangible benefit of that subscription, then it is the company's property.
Look at it like this; the toy is not Truly Free, or I (not having an MSDN subscription) would have been eligible ... eligibility for the offer was "bought", fair and square ...

Besides, if you paid nothing, either for the subscription, or for the toy itself, where do you get your sense of entitlement?

Of course, for what it is worth, if the company wants to own the toys, they owe you some stamps ...

Of course, since it came from Micro$oft, you could make a valid argument that you bartered your soul for it ... :)

sounds like ms wants the developer to have it.

[Suppafly]

from https://vstudio.joleschgroup.com/faq.aspx

Q. My company or organization has multiple licenses for an eligible product via an Open, Select or Enterprise Agreement. Can I (or someone else) enter multiple registrations to take advantage of this offer?

A. No, this offer is for individual end-users only. If your company or organization has multiple licenses for an eligible product, please ask your end-users to register their product individually through this site. You cannot register someone else on his or her behalf.

Sounds like COI

[jolshefsky]

Most companies have a conflict of interest statement somewhere that prevents people from receiving "gifts" from companines. A friend of mine once signed up for a contest at a company he worked with, and when he won, he checked around and found he couldn't accept the gift because it was akin to a bribe.

In my opinion, though, I think the company is foolish for trying to claim the PDA's. Most places can't budget an occasional $20 for pizza for their employees, so being able to give people a cool gift for $0 out of their pocket seems like a pretty good deal.