Slashdot Mirror
Copyright Law Protection for Employees?
Copyright Fringement asks: "I've been constantly asked by my employer to install software (Office, XP, etc) on unauthorized computers, as well as duplicate copyrighted material (video, CD's) en masse. I know that there are watchdog agencies that look out for this kind of stuff, and it's setting my employer (or me) up for serious fines and Other Bad Things(tm), but is there a way to protect myself from said Bad Things (tm)? I've explained till I'm blue in the face, but the bosses always: get a glazed look; or give some nonsense explanation. I like my job, but I'm not taking the fall for these guys. What's a self respecting Slashdot reader to do?"
1) Talk to your corporate counsel. If they're not idiots (which isn't a given), they'll realize you're doing them a favor.
2) Don't sweat it. This is between you and your conscience. You may theoretically be liable for these violations, but nobody will be coming after you personally, especially if you have a paper trail covering your ass and super-especially if you've gone to your lawyers.
But, yeah, stuff liek this sucks, especially in a small company.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Fake a letter email from MS telling them to stop! I'm sure you can make the email look like it came from MS's progrom that sniffs out cheats... PUT THE FEAR of litigation in them!
Personally, I'd just tell the boss that I wouldn't install the software. I've had times that I've needed to tell me boss that I wouldn't participate in illegal activity. They don't like it, but it's the right thing to do.
If you don't want crime to pay, let the government run it.
Get them to give you those orders in writing . Then explain to them why you won't do it in writing . Take both documents to their corporate lawyers and keep a copy at home for safe keeping. Now you not only have a paper trail of the situation to protect yourself should the company get audited, you have ammo against them should they try to fire you for not following orders.
What they're asking you to do is violate copyright, and it's just plain wrong. Should you comply, you're opening yourself up to a world of hurt. If the company gets nailed you will be hung out to dry. You would be the one doing the copying and unauthorized installs, not management. The managers can claim they didn't know you were doing it and are shocked -- shocked! that you would to such a thing.
Just beacuse it's a crime with a lesser chance of getting caught doesn't change the nature of the act. (Not that the spy and hooker job wouldn't be hella awesome...) You refuse to do it, or you break the law. You don't isolate yourself from responsibility for your commission of a criminal act.
I knew a reply like this was going to come up. And I kind of knew that I was going to see it modded up. But... this is just a ridiculous way to look at things. Small companies do things like this all the time. I worked for a small consulting firm, that was an awesome place to work for, paid well, and they treated us great. But... their software licensing practices were shady at best. I didn't feel entirely comfortable about installing software I knew we didnt have a license for, but in the end I liked my job, played dumb and installed whatever. The place had kind of a cowboy culture to it and even if I went against the boss and he caved, I would have been branded "not one of them" and my future there would have been hurt.
.com world, where you might have been able to walk out the door on Friday and be walking into another company on Monday, I might agree with you. But this is a small issue in the grand scheme of things where you may be facing the reality of prolonged unemployment.
THINK about what you are saying. Youre telling this guy to piss off his boss to the point where he may be fired or considered not a team player and passed over for opportunities, and then sue them. Ok so the guy gets fired, with what money is he going to sue them? His gravy train that was paying his mortgage and feeding his kids with a little left over is gone, and hes going to spend his reserve cash on suing his ex-employer? Did you think about what would happen if he wins? He might win his job back. Yeaaah, thats really going to work out swell. After all the hassle, he might win a few months worth of wages after losing sleep over a legal battle for months.
I've heard the retort "well if the company does things like this, this isnt a company you want to work for." It just does not hold water. The company might be awesome in all other respects, but they don't feel that software piracy is something to be concerned about. You must put yourself in his position. When the choice is to walk out on a job and cut yourself off from your source of income, or to just install the damn software, I am betting you will just install the damn software.
In a
- Change your values to match theirs, or
- Find a place that shares the same values.
They will not change, and you cannot change them.This is not a bad thing, per se. It just means you and they have different values. Would you work at a lab where they routinely sprayed oven cleaner in Rabbits' eyes (even if you weren't the sprayer)? What about at a place that dumped chemicals into streams (even if you weren't the dumper)? How about a place that forced some employees to work in very unsafe conditions (even if you didn't work in unsafe conditions)?
We all have a choice. You can either stay or go; being the "whistleblower" means that you will be leaving almost immediately as you take your parting shot on the way out.
Yeah, right.
Fortunately small in this case. My very inexpert opinion is that an employee who does something illegal at his bosses request has no more legal coverage than if he acted at his own initiative. But the chances of your being prosecuted or sued are very small -- in past situations like yours, the IP police have gone after the company, not the individual employees. Of course there's no guarantee that they'll always do this.
The question you should be asking is "What do I do?" There's no simple answer there. You say you like your job, but you're also concerned about the legal risks you're running. You have to weigh one against the other. And this is something you just have to do for yourself. You're the one at risk of unemployment and/or legal peril. Only you can decide how important all the factors are.
It's certainly not fair that your bosses have put you in this position. But that's the kind of shit that we all have to deal with.
If you're determined to put an end to this situation, there are various outs -- all of which put your job at risk.
- Simply refuse to make any more pirate installations.
- Narc on your company to the IP police.
- Find somebody in the company bureaucracy who sees things your way. The legal department would probably not be happy to know that managers are putting the company at risk this way. The HR department might also be helpful.
Legally, your bosses can't retaliate against you for doing any of the above. Doesn't mean they won't, or that they won't get away with it.While i've technically done a "Good Thing"(tm) i still feel a bit evil as my actions generally cause another person to loose his job.
No, his actions caused him to lose his job. Had he behaved ethically and responsibly, he would still have his job. He asked for it, he got it (Toyota).
If you call the BSA anonymously, they will not know who you are. So when they sue your employer, you'll get sued too.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
This is one of the best truisms I ever heard: if you never piss anyone off, you're probably not doing anything worthwhile.
I'm a nice guy. My natural inclination is to be everybody's friend. If you never have to deal with people whose views may disagree with yours, then that's great.
But sometimes, you have money involved. Sometimes, your relationship with someone puts one of you in a senior position within some organisation. Sometimes, you simply have a strong difference of opinion with someone, or your ethics mean you disapprove of their behaviour. In these cases, it's impossible to be everyone's friend all the time.
I've come to the conclusion that when this happens, the only two things that count are having principles you believe in, and sticking to them. To me, and amongst other things, that means you back people up when they deserve your help, you deal with people with honesty and integrity, you negotiate firmly but fairly, and if someone is doing something wrong, the consequences are their responsibility, and theirs alone.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Everyone that has posted has an opinion, Some of them make more sense than others, but none of us are lawyers. The best thing for you to do is to get advice from an attorney. NOW! Before a disgruntled employee other than you calls the BSA or other agency.
I'm a happy pessimist. I expect and prepare for the worst, when it doesn't happen I am pleasantly surprised.
In a civil case, it would make no sense to sue the employee as opposed to spending all efforts going after the company's big bucks. I don't think the individual has much to worry about. Besides, most people don't know exactly how many licenses the company has purchased since it isn't their responsibility to keep track; it's the company's.
You need to bear in mind that copying more than 10 copies of a piece of software, worth more than $2,500 total, is a felony if it is done (a) deliberately and (b) with intent to violate copyrights.
The courts would have no trouble at all proving that you deliberately made the copies, knew you were violating copyright, and hence did it deliberately.
They would also have no problem proving that it was done for commercial gain, since it was clearly saving the company money. Hence, you would personally be liable for not just a huge fine, but also a term of up to 5 years in federal prison.
As someone else has already pointed out, your boss ordering you to do something illegal does not remove your liability under law. Doesn't matter if you have your orders in writing, you are still expected to obey the law or face the consequences.
Even if you don't report the company, sooner or later someone at Microsoft will notice that a company with N employees only has 1 licensed copy of Windows, and they'll ask questions. They've gone after public schools and charities, damn right they'll go after a profit-making company without hesitation.
So, the real question you should be asking yourself is: do you love your job so much that you are willing to risk an ass-pounding in prison to keep it for a while? Personally, I wouldn't take that risk.
That's the selfish argument. Now the altruistic argument.
By shielding the company from the true costs of proprietary software, you are aiding Microsoft. If your bosses had the choice of paying for Office or using OpenOffice, they might make a smart decision based on the actual merits of the products. Right now, you are assisting Microsoft in maintaining their monopoly.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Explain that they will need to pay for the software before you install it, but if they want you to install Linux and OpenOffice, then you'll be happy to comply and it won't cost them anything for the software.
If you're installing that much software and worry about it, tell your boss that you're uncomfortable taking possibly illegal actions and want them to indemnify you against any actions or liability that may come about by you following your boss's instructions.
But, really, the smart thing to do is to spend the $500 to ask a lawyer this question. They'll know what protection your state gives innocent employees of criminal organization, and what can and can't be indemnified against.
And a good lawyer will also be able to tell you how your state's employment laws can keep you from losing your job if you refuse to perform illegal acts.