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Would You Install Pirated Software at Work?
An anonymous reader asks: "I am an IT professional, and due to budget constraints, I have been told to install multiple copies of MS Office, despite offering to install OpenOffice, and other OpenSource Office products. Even though most of the uses are for people using Excel like a database, or formatting of text in cells, other programs are not tolerated. I have been over ruled by our controller, to my disagreement. I would never turn them in, but I am in tough place by knowing doing something illegal. I want to keep my job, but disagree with some of the decision making on this issue. Other than drafting a letter to the owners of the company on how I disagree with the policy, what else can I do?"
Your comments about programming not being a profession I find a little bizarre, but I can't say I'm too bothered about it. I have to take issue with the following, though:
> You can't be a professional and knowingly support illegal activity.
I'm a professional software engineer and I support the production, sale and consumption of cannabis. I understand that I'm pretty far from being alone in this way of thinking. I put it to you that you're wrong.
I don't agree that companies should routinely and knowingly use unlicensed (a slightly better word than the absurd `pirate`) software, although sometimes it's a little confusing so I can imagine some companies unwillingly using software on more computers than they should.
How ELSE would I get anything done?!
I know you meant it as a joke, but it bears repeating. Whenever possible, I always pirate my software first, even at work (own business). The last thing I'm going to do is shell out hundreds of dollars on software that turns out to be shit.
For those a little skeptical I even had a recent example with Winfax pro. Very glad now that I went with Snappyfax instead, instead of shelling out money for Symantec's piece of crap.
And yes, I know that a lot of software is try before you buy, but that's a very recent development, and generally doesn't cover anything more than $50~$100 anyway.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
If you already have a Windows Server in place, consider installing Citrix as a simple applications server and letting most users access a single copy of MS Office installed on the apps server rather than giving each and every one of them their own installation. It's almost certainly a less-expensive (and still legal) solution than buying enough Office licenses for every desktop and, assuming reasonable usage patterns, should provide a good end-user experience.
It is not acceptable, as an alleged professional, to willingly or by policy violate the laws of where your business is located.
I know it sounds like a pain, but you should stand up for your professional ethics. If they are crazy enough to fire you for refusing to break the law, you should deal with the wrongful termination appropriately. As a refresher, our professional ethics are well summarized HERE.
If they asked you to go out in the parking lot and siphon gas from random cars rather than submit a travel reimbursement because the "budget is tight", would you? Would you shoplift copies of the software from BestBuy for them?
Write up a small presentation listing the various options and their costs and drawbacks:
Illegal options aren't really options and should be neither offered nor considered.
I sometimes find it so frustrating to get all the security hasps and serials registered, getting techsupport from the east coast when your on the west coast, that can take days to setup if you don't get it right by noon. That sometimes it's just plain easier to run a crack and have it set up in 5 minutes.
You mean the good ol' Nuremberg defense ( "Befehl ist Befehl" or "only following orders").... Very few who used that defense survived the trials and those that did claimed that if they didn't follow orders they would have been killed.... I doubt that's what the case here is.... Typically if you want to blow the whistle, you have to do so before committing the questionable/illegal act to maintain any kind of credibility. I say delay installing the software and look for another job. Turning them in may be a major headache depending on how your company handles human resource related issues and how your superiors handle subordinates going above them in the chain of command to point out their improper act(s)/behavior/orders....
I've refrained from profanity, racial/ethnic epitaphs and am 5'11" - how can I be ranked as troll?
It's a hard path, and I know someone who has walked it. I have a cousin who was in the same situation and was fired for refusing to perform those illegal acts.
If you are in your grace period, they can terminate you without giving a reason, but if you've been employed for some time they cannot legally fire you for refusing to perform an illegal act.
In the end, my cousin didn't get anything out of it. He had to find another job (and did) but he did have the satisfaction of seeing the company get busted for unrelated illegal actions, which were then compounded when the illegal software was discovered.
To this day, even though it was tough being forced to find a new job, he is glad that he took a stand against it... and I'll be the first to admit that I admire him for it.
This is not a sig.
This problem is far more common than people think -- especially at smaller companies that are trying to make ends meet.
What I did in one case was to comply with the order and then got the hell out. I needed the time to find another job. I didn't turn them in to SPA or anything but I sometimes wish I had after some wait long enough to not point the finger back at me.
In another instance, I discovered that my predecessor had installed a bunch of copies of software without having the licenses (nowhere near) to cover the installations. I knew my supervisor was (a) a slimeball, and (b) short on money to cover the software. When I told him about the situation, he asked me to find out how much it would cost to make all the software legal so I did. It was too much for him to cover so he decided not to do anything about it.
Not wanting to be associated with illegal software (I can't go into details, but this was a place with oversight and the consequences to being a party to this would mean immediate dismissal), and wanting to cover my butt, I talked to a company rep for the software and asked if there was a way to convert old licenses to new through some kind of upgrade, plus get a discount on a volume buy. I did this without my supervisor's knowledge or permission.
I felt I had no choice. I did not see going to his supervisor as an option as I was relatively new and my supervisor had lots of friends. I did the only thing that I thought I could to cover myself. By contacting the company rep, I alerted the company that there was technically piracy going on with their software. I did it without authority, but I also covered the entity's butt I worked for by owning up to the software company and appearing to be proactive. I covered my organization's butt to our parent organization as we were subject to software audits -- which would have put us (and me) in an extreme corner. I also forced my supervisor to pony up for the illegal software. And I also documented dates, inventories, and anything to make my case just in case someone tried to blame me for the illegal copies.
My supervisor, however, targeted me and cut my position at his very next opportunity and I had to take another position in the organization. Luckily it worked out for the better. He was also eventually targeted and demoted by his supervisor. Maybe I could have gone above him but I didn't know that at the time.
It was a really tough position. I did what I felt I had to do to cover myself and the organization I work for and to force the hand of my supervisor who was quite content to operate with tens of thousands of dollars of illegal software. I had already been through the situation once and didn't feel like doing it again. It also really made me angry that someone would put me in that position when I am an IT professional. It just sucked. I have absolutely no respect for any supervisor who would do that to an employee and if placed in that position in the future, I would probably be even more open about cutting off their dick by documenting, buidling a case, and going as high as I needed to go to get the issue resolved. I realize that sometimes the supervisor is the CEO/director/whatever, and you can't go higher. In such cases I think all you can do is comply to buy time and get the hell out.
And when you file for unemployment, and they deny your claim at first because your left voluntarily, and then you file paperwork in response that you left under duress after being ordered by a superior to do something against the law, stuff gets interesting!
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
What would you do if your boss asked you to burn a cd full of mp3's he downloaded via peer to peer?
I'm really not trying to troll here........and I really do believe that:
1) Pirating software for home use is minor
2) Pirating software for a business (or for the purpose of making money FROM that software) is not so minor
But really, you have mentioned "most of the uses are for people using Excel like a database, or formatting of text in cells".
I suppose if you answer the initial question I posed by burning him the CD you must then decide the moral implications yourself.
Obviously, you need to protect your ass either way.
Push it up the chain to the owners, then if there's no love:
The BSA gives out rewards for reporting piracy. Tell them the situation, but not the company, and find out if the reward will be worth possibly losing your job for reporting them. Then if you do lose your job that's good lawsuit fodder. Reporting is confidential, so the BSA won't tell it's you, but they'll probably know anyway due to your past protests.
I really don't like the BSA, which likes to drastically punish people for shoddy license accounting. But this is a case of a company willfully and against clear advice installing, using and profiting off of unlicensed software on a large scale. It's just wrong.
if they're willing to overrule you and insist you commit an illegal act
I wasn't aware that installing multiple copies of Office in excess of the number that you've licensed was illegal. It's definitely a violation of the software license, but illegal? I have a hard time seeing criminal charges result from something like this.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
The first time I refused to back down and wound up prompting the company owner to call the company lawyer, who literally passed a brick when the owner tried to explain that he didn't "feel" software piracy was wrong. His language is very specific here, because while you might not feel like you're doing something wrong, that doesn't change the fact that it's illegal. Eventually they knuckled down and paid full price for the package they were going to pirate. The second time I was sacked on a friday afternoon after lunch ("Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week"). I called the BSA on the way out, and a few weeks later the company was audited to the bargained-down tune of $6,000, of which I received $500 for "doing the right thing". Ultimately, it's a question of how questionable you'll allow your ethics to become; things like this may not travel from job to job or position to position but it's much easier to keep the high ground than to regain it once you've lost it.
IANAL, but I am an employee representative with legal training. However, for Germany, not the US.
First, insist that they give you the order to install that software in writing. Tell them that you believe it is breaking the law, but as a good employee you will of course do it if ordered to do so in writing with either a) a statement from the legal department that it's legal or b) a statement from the boss that he's taking responsibility.
Stand your ground on this one. Make sure you have a witness (a co-worker) if things get tough.
Second, put your objections in writing as well. Sign them and mail them to a third party - a union representative, a lawyer, anyone who'll count for something in a court of law.
That should cover your ass. If you're ok withh probably breaking the law, you're good from here. If you're not ok, do the one thing you can (and, by the way, are legally obliged to) do: Inform the authorities. Really. Stop dancing around the fire. No matter what you do, one thing is sure to not make you happy in the long run, and that's the half-assed way.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Nothing at all will happen to the employer as a result of a statement in the unemployment file concerning illegal or unethical pressures. This is usually written off as "disgruntled employee" and it goes no further. Your options here are really all or nothing. Go to the authorities or be a part of it.
In British Columbia, it doesn't even take that. I was recently fired for doing the unthinkable.. having children. after my daughter was born, i was informed that my having children was disruptive to the work environment (i requested a week leave to help my wife out with the newborn) and was informed that my services were no longer desired. it took 2 weeks to get my tools back, and my own personal laptop, which i had brought to work so that i could drop it off at the computer shop after work for a ram upgrade, was wiped. I went to no less than 3 lawyers, who all informed my that the only liability a company has is 2 weeks severance or notice.. so my advise to the OP is, document everything, find another job, and turn them over to the authorities.
Personally, I wouldn't burn the CDs either. For one thing, I think the basic premise of copyright is a reasonable, practical idea and I don't consider ripping the fruits of others' labours without compensation to have any sort of moral or ethical basis. For another, even if it were a "minor" crime in isolation, committing it under those circumstances would not just be breaking the law, but doing so for personal profit (if it's part of the job for which I am being paid), which as far as I'm concerned makes it not minor at all.
I think you're confusing me with another poster on some of your comment, BTW.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
I could be wrong, but don't organizations like the BSA go after the companies and not the individuals?
It seems to me that the best thing to do would be to write e-mail to the company bosses and tell them your concerns and your recomendations, and BCC it to a separate e-mail that you control. Then forward the responses. Do what your bosses ask, and if the BSA comes knocking, show them the e-mails.
"-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
Yeah, this isn't a criminal issue - it's civil. If you can show that you were just following orders, that should be enough to Cover Your Ass.
If they come asking you to duplicate and sell Office CDs, well then that's another matter.
If you are the vengeful sort, a call to the BSA would be a nice touch.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Do many of these actually end up in court? From what I understand, after an audit, BSA gives you a reasonable amount of time to gain compliance before you actually get hit with any fees.
P.S.,
This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated.
Depends on where he lives/works. In some countries, most companies have lots of pirated software running in their desktops, and unless it's a big corporation from which the copyright owner/CSA can make a whole bunch of money, the worst they do is send an 'auditor', have him say something around the lines of 'you have some unlicensed stuff, here's a special offer to get yourself all legal", and insist on it. Only if the company insists on using the copies w/o paying, they will take some nasty legal action (ie suing), and the guy who actually did the install will probably not be held accountable for the worst (maybe used as a witness, and have him pay a fine, but nowhere near going to jail).
This is so, I think, because in these countries a) actually taking something to court and especially have a resolution can take AGES, even super simple stuff, and cost a lot more than a few licenses. Plus if they start suing people around like mad, people that might have kept the pirate copies, and be subject to some nice offer on licences, will instead turn to other alternatives (I'm just speculating here, but it seems plausible), and that wouldn't be good for the copyright owner either. b) people, and many MANY companies, really can't afford the software, but actually need it to work (thanks to our friends at redmond, if you pardon my zealotry), so they pirate. And no, as much as I like to offer OpenOffice to everyone and I propose it each time I get a chance, some people need MS Office. Forcing use of legal software ar prices that are really not meant for a developing economy, will add yet another block on the road, for such an economy to improve. That's one of the reasons people aren't very fond of 'free trade' agreements with copyright protection requirements attached to them.
"Luck is my middle name," said Rincewind, indistinctly. "Mind you, my first name is Bad." -- Terry Pratchett
1) Early in my career, a VP walked into my office and asked me to steal a copy of a competitor's source code. I refused. I later found out he'd already asked someone else more senior, who had also refused. He eventually came to his senses, and never asked us to do anything unethical or illegal again. Everyone lived happily ever after.
2) A few years later at another company, two C?Os kept a vendor busy while another VP "borrowed" a copy of their code "until we can afford to pay it back". The rest of us found out about this when the company got sued. Not long after, the company went into bankruptcy and everyone was laid off. Just before thanksgiving. Happy holidays to all the rest of us. I don't think it came to criminal proceedings against the officers of the company, but it very well could have. Civil suits were also filed against the CEO/CFO team, and they declared personal bankruptcy as well.
So which boat would you rather be in?
I know, you could end up getting chunked out of the boat all together. At that point, I'd drop the hammer on them. If you think think that's a likely scenario, speak with a lawyer NOW so if they threaten you, you know what to say. That might solve teh problem.
1) "They'll fire your ass for insubordination and if you complain about it they'll bury you. Sure you can, in theory, sue them for "wrongful termination" but you'll probably never get another job in the US if you do. And they have more money than you do, so they'll likely win in court, anyway"
Or is it
2) "If you refuse the illegal order and they fire you, you'll be fine. Most companies actually try to follow the law and expect their employees to, also. They'd be happy to hire someone who draws the line at violating the law when ordered to by a superior. And the court will frown on a company retaliating on a law-abiding employee and will compensate you accordingly."
I've been lucky enough (and picked my employers carefully enough, perhaps
And don't discount the value of doing what's right for right's sake. There's a lot to be said for maintaining personal integrity simply because it's part of who you are (to yourself even if no one else acknowledges it)
An employer can not ask you to do that, and fire you when you refuse.
Employers have a lot of ways to terminate an employee though. A buddy of mine was terminated because he was not "flexible" enough for the team. Odd thing is that his last performance review listed one of his strengths as being "flexible". He was terminated because he disagreed with how the company did their bidding process for a mapping project. He provided time estimates for paper to digital conversion and management cut the time to win the work. Problem is that he'd be blamed later when things weren't being completed on time. All the HR department needed to do was write a reasonable explanation in the employee file and it becomes very difficult to go after the employer.
I certainly don't know this guys complete situation (finances, job industry in his area, family issues, etc...) but I'd contact BSA, start looking for a new employer, and cooperate in the investigation. Between the time of the report to BSA and the time period where the employer could comfortably terminate me, I'm pretty confident I'd have a new job.
How do you handle it?
Step 1) Document your concerns. How many installs are needed, how many are unlicensed, etc
Step 2) Document your correspondence with your controller. Send them an email explaining (a) that unlicensed software is wrong and can result in large fines for the company (b) that you are aware of unlicensed software (c) it will cost $X to bring the company up to spec and (d) how they would like you to proceed. If they pull the Manager trick of verbally discussing the answer with you, follow up by emailing them a summary ("I want to be sure I clearly understand from our recent conversation...")
Step 3) If the issue is still unresolved, bring it up with the owners/president. "Dear Mr President, we are exposed to possible fines, I haven't been able to find a solution, and I am concerned for the welfare of the company"
Step 4) If the owner isn't willing to do anything... call the BSA (or whatever the software authority is in your area)
These 4 steps follow the chain of command, cover your a$$ if they try to blame you for it, and will eventually result in the right thing happening. If you're lucky, they'll realize they were in the wrong, and they'll correct things. If you're fired, hopefully there's a whistleblowers statute in your area. If there isn't... at least you're not working there anymore.
The mere fact that you'd bring up this issue says that you're not comfortable with it. So don't do it. No job is worth your self-respect.
(Of course, there's always "Option B"... just buy the damn licenses (or have them billed to the company), don't give them the option of not purchasing more. License purchasing is suddenly a part of the process. "What's that? Install Office on Bobs machine? Why, no problem! I'll just go call our vendor, buy a license number, and be right back!")
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
Ethics is further down the list of things to be true to than survival. Especially since we're talking about something as abstract as violating a copyright.
No, we're talking about not being someone else's bagman and the risks that involves. The problem here is that the boss is transferring the risk his company is taking to the employee. If something goes wrong he's screwed and won't have the option of another job he has now. If the company is caught and he's blamed, he'll end up washing dishes for a living.
I've worked with convicted felons and they all deeply regret their convictions. Their crimes were petty but it has locked them out of all sorts of honest work. The few people who hire them do so because they know they can squeeze that much harder. This makes life harder for them than you and me.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Nope. If directly ordered by a employing corporation, you fall under
corporate immunity. Contractors need not apply.
Trackball users will be first against the wall.
For the purposes of the submitter, OO.o is almost certainly superior to MS Office. Just because it is going to be used in a corporate environment doesn't mean they need all the obscure and complex features of MS Office that haven't been duplicated in OO.o. It is nonsensical to claim that OO.o is better than MS Office in every way, but you were the one to imply that that was the claim.
Just keep it simple and professional. Get a list of all the Serial Numbers you have (legal access to). Email that list to your boss, along with a letter saying: "We have office installed on the following computers: Dave Jones, Workstation 101, Serial # 1234 1234 1234 1234 Steve Jones, Workstation 102, Serial # 1244 1244 1244 1244 Etc Etc Etc I am ready to install office on workstation 201, 202, etc etc, but we have no more serial numbers that I am aware of to activate any other copies. If you have more serial numbers available, please provide me with a list of them and I can proceed with installation, thanks in advance! Tom Jones" This tells bossman that you know what is going on, that you have an inventory of what is where and what should not be where. And if by some miracle he comes up with a list of new serial numbers, that is on his head, not yours. You're just implementing instructions and information that was provided to you by your boss. If he tells you to find serial numbers on your own, tell him you have no idea how or where to look for that kind of information. Keeps it simple, shows him you're willing and ready to install, you just need that one thing from him to proceed.
Trust me, they will. Same thing happened to me.
I sent such an email. Was then called into the managers office and told in no uncertain terms that if I sent an email like that again I'd be kicked out of the building. They don't like that stuff because it's tracable.
This company had one MSDN for 100 employees. An unlicensed exchange server, mostly unlicensed XP, unlicensed VS2003, unlicensed office, you name it, they didn't license it.
They also ran a single (pirated) vmware GSX server and rented the resulting virtual machines to customers not telling them they were virtual.
This is not uncommon - every company I've ever been with has had the same attitude.
Of course when they all but ordered me to hack into a rival companies servers and steal their data I put my foot down - stripping it from webservers and demo versions of their software is fair game... hacking? I wasn't going to do jail time for them and refused.
So Simonetta, what exactly do you do for a living? If you refuse to pay my company what we ask you to pay for our software, then why should anyone pay you and/or your company for the work you do? After all, saving money by not paying you for your product or service increases my personal productivity, right? "I'm ripping you off and taking food out the mouths of your children? I don't care."
If you don't agree with the price my company wants to charge for our software, you have exactly one choice: don't buy it and don't use it. Try "I don't like your price so I'm not going to pay you for your work" on your plumber, mechanic, doctor, lawyer, etc. and see what happens.
Bad advice. Snitching is a bad thing. You don't have to. The proper, legal, way is the right thing to do. Refuse the request. Don't go above someones head (that is usually a bad idea). If you have an HR department, talk to the HR person. The HR person is in legal hot water if he complains and later get fired for sticking to the law.
As I said - there is a proper process for this, and it is trivial. He sticks to the law. Refueses all such requests. If they fire him, he sues them. They're not going to fire him. If the organization is of some size, his manager should be in trouble once the HR person gets involved.
The very first thing you need to do is get your resume up-to-date and begin a job search, if you haven't already. Any company that would order you to take such a step is clearly in financial trouble. Even if you are the only sysadmin, sooner or later your job will evaporate, maybe along with everyone else's, maybe before. Don't be there when that happens. Start the process of getting out now, when you can choose a new job at your leisure, not when you become unemployed or the get busted and you are embroiled in it.
Also, you need to buy 30 or 60 minutes of a lawyer's time. Probably an IP specialist. You may be able to find one local to you through the lawyer search on http://www.handelonthelaw.com/Default.aspx. IANAL and the following is not legal advice, blahblahblah.
I would go ahead and install the software, but then, as I stated above, start looking for a job. Your ethical obligation to not violate copyright does not trump your obligation to support any dependents you may have, or your right to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head.
Before installing it, thoroughly document what you have been asked to do, and that it is under duress b/c you would be fired if you refused, and document that you proposed using a free alternative and were refused. Get the document notarized, and lock it away in a safety deposit box. Do anything else the lawyer tells you to do to protect yourself. If you have emails showing them telling you to do it, preserve those in both electronic and hard copies. Keep them in the safety deposit box, too
Then install the software.
Once you start your new job (really; don't do this before you've left this company and are actually working at a new job), at your discretion you could make an anonymous tip to the BSA that the company willfully installed more copies of software than they had a license for. Even if the company fingers you for it, you'll have documentation showing they told you to do it, and the BSA is not likely to be interested in you per se; they are after the money, and the company has that and is the real violator. Plus, if push comes to shove at that point, you probably have nothing to lose by telling the BSA (under advice from your lawyer, of course; if the shit hits the fan, you'll need to get one) that it was you who turned them in because you couldn't leave that on your conscience, that they made you do it but you quit because of it, then turned them in.
Good luck to you. It sucks to be working for a company like that. I hope you can find a new job that is open source friendly.
Maybe you didn't read the comment, but I'm kind of under the assumption that's how he got released with 18 months of pay instead of nothing, is with the aid of that exit interview.
:)
I myself see possibility in using that money to hire a lawyer, file lawsuit against the company anyway, and cash in more chips when they can't find any formal justifiable complaint filed against you, but I'd never do that, I'm a nice guy.
I sell out to The Man every day.
My contract and enlistment oath says I swore to "obey all LAWFUL orders", and they're quite quick to fry anybody woh does something illegal with the cop-out "but I was ordered to...."
Think so, huh? Wonder what 1LT Ehren Watada has to say about that.
Besides, the Nuremberg Doctrine is a shining example of victor's (so-called) justice. The Allies knew right, good and well that "but I was refusing an illegal order" would have gotten nowhere. "That's nice, private. Would you like a blindfold? A cigarette? Do you have any last words?" Watada's situation is proof positive of that.
I have karma to burn, so fire away, wingnut mods.
Yes this is a legal issue, and "Open Source" (or "Free Software") is the term describing the type of license the software uses. In other words, "open source" is just as much a legal term as it is a technical one.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
There's no pirated software where I work. I can be sure of that because we're a 100% Open Source / Manual Methods shop.
We got a "friendly visit" from FAST once. They seemed concerned mainly with how we prevented employees from copying the software that was on their workstations (more particularly with trying to sell us a Windows-only, closed-source payware program that would have made a christian attempt to prevent this sort of thing). I pointed out that we had no procedure in place to prevent this and were unlikely ever to institute one. I thought the poor guy's arsehole was going to cave in until I pointed out that every piece of software on their machines was either truly Open Source or otherwise redistributable, so there would be no reason for us to prevent this.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
I am not a lawyer, but I am the son of an internal bank auditor who's been asked to do some illegal things during her career. Here's how dear ole' Mom handled it, and I think this is how you should handle it:
Inform your supervisor in writing that what he's asking you to do is illegal under thus and such provision of thus and such law and as such you can't fulfill the request. Be specific and be complete. Ask them if doing this is a condition for your continued employment. Ask them for a response in writing. Send two copies of it through the regular old mail, one to him, one to yourself. Keep the one to yourself, unopened, in a safe place.
At this point they have two choices: They can fire you, in which case you can sue the pants off them for wrongful termination or they can back down.
PS - Under no circumstances would I just go ahead and do it because, by your own admission, you know this is illegal. That makes you an accessory to the crime, regardless of whether or not they're threatening to fire you.
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