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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?"
You must ask yourself: if they're willing to overrule you and insist you commit an illegal act, how are they going to behave should this come to the attention of FAST (or other enforcement body)? My guess is they will dump it all on your shoulders. If they don't play by the rules now, they certainly will not start when their backs are against the wall.
I suggest you document everything, off site and get your CV circulated immediately.
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
Dear Slashdot, I have a set of principles that I adhere to rigorously. Today, I have been presented with something that violates my principles. What should I do?
Answer, you have a choice: Grow some balls or a spine. Really, either will do.
The minute you install the pirated software, you have no moral leg to stand on. You either stick to your guns or you leave. The "I did it because it was my job to do it" defense has been tried (literally) and failed.
To me, the decision is clear-cut.
Any actual profession... and as much as IT/programming may claim to be one, it isn't really one yet... has a code of conduct that says quite clearly what you need to do. You can't be a professional and knowingly support illegal activity.
How ELSE would I get anything done?!
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
If you don't get it in writing, should anything happen and the company be audited ... YOU will be the one blamed and fired.
Everyone else will swear that YOU were the loose cannon. That they would NEVER violate a copyright. That they are 100% honest.
Really. They're already asking you to violate your ethics / principles. Why would you believe that they wouldn't lie about who's idea it was?
Personally, there is *NO WAY IN HELL* I would do it. Nor would I work for a company that was irresponsible enough to even ASK me to. Sounds like you've picked a pretty shady and unstable company to work for. If I were you, I would stall on the installation ("We're having some technical issues with some of the machines, sir") and start looking for a new job. DO NOT install it if you plan on doing this (they would still blame you after-the-fact).
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I've been in a similar situation, only for us it was the case where someone wanted to run a course in our IT Suite. They needed specific software for the course and told me this 2 days before the course was due to run, they told me they'd ordered the licenses and were on the way but might not make it until after the course was due to run.
Knowing what these people are like, and having little confidence in their ordering of the licenses I put my foot down and refused to install it until the licenses arrived, I made the point that if this caused a problem for their course that they should perhaps consider not leaving things until the last minute in future. My line manager backed me up in my stance however my boss over-ruled both of us and told us to install it, standing my ground I defied him and refused to do so. Eventually my boss installed the software himself, so the course ran and so forth but at least I hadn't been the one to break the law, the best part? Those licenses never arrived, the whole thing was completely illegal, frankly I fail to believe the licenses were ever really ordered.
You shouldn't worry about losing your job by refusing to do this, they'll most likely back down on any threat to sack you. If they do however follow through then you're looking at an extremely strong court case involving a massive payout for yourself. If you get sacked and know they have gone ahead installing illegal copies, your first stop should be to report them to whatever country deals with anti-piracy raids, when you report it ask that any evidence of infringement they find be made available to your court case, this will make your case pretty much un-loseable. Just bear in mind that you absolutely do not have to do this, you're entirely in the right by refusing to do so and the law will recognise that.
One other thing to note is that if you do follow through, obey your orders and install the software - what happens if someone else reports your company? Can you really be sure they'll take the blame? What are you going to do if they say they had no knowledge of pirate software on your systems and hence the blame gets shifted entirely on you.
I think most people pirate at least some software and home, and so some may say it's hypocritical to say the things I've said here knowing that, but there's a distinction to be made between what you do at home and being professional at work. No one has to know what you get upto at home, and so the risk is more controlled, however at work any number of your users could cash in on that $1000 software piracy report reward or whatever. Furthermore, I'd imagine the penalties for what would probably be commercial copyright infringement would be much more harsh than for home copying also.
Especially when they don't share the grog
The answer is simple, just don't do it. Just do your other jobs instead of following your boss' order to break the law. If he fires you, sue. You'll win multiple years of lost salary easily when the reason you were fired is that you were ordered to commit illegal acts and wouldn't. In the end, it'll look good on the resume for your next job, because future employers will know that you'll stand your ground for the things that are right.
Honestly, I'm speaking from a little bit of experience here, so keep a stiff upper lip and don't give in to your boss.
You're the IT guy. Find an employee who is disgruntled (or maybe just use the guy that keeps eating your lunch out of the fridge even though it's CLEARLY marked with BIG BLACK MARKER with your name). Send an email ratting the company out to the BSA from that person's account. Put a BSA bumper sticker on his car. Sneak into his house and put a thank you card ("The Business Software Alliance thanks you for reporting 500 scofflaw software stealing terrorists in 2006! Wishing you more success bringing down more scum in 2007!") on his mantle.
Meanwhile, forge emails from your boss to you threatening to fire you if you don't immediately and without question install as much illegal software as possible. Include some BSA baiting ("And if the BSA comes around, I've got a few shotgun shells with their names on it! Yeehaw!") For extra points, forge an entire email thread wherein he continues to threaten you and the BSA and anyone else you can think of despite your continued objections. Throw in some sentences where you attempt to convince him of his wrongs through Bible verses.
When the BSA comes to the office, throw a Molotov cocktail from your boss's window toward their car. Leave the building and wait across the street for the SWAT team to arrive. If your boss tries to come out, as soon as you can see him coming out the door yell as loud as you can "He's got a gun!"
This should take care of your problem.
how are they going to behave should this come to the attention of FAST (or other enforcement body)?
Why bother to find out?
Tell them that you are going to Install Open Office or quit. It's not that what they have asked is morally wrong, it's that it exposes YOU to danger for their benefit. Oh yeah, it's also stupid because better software exists and they have "standardized" on the worst. You offered your advice and they discarded it, so it's time to go unless you want to be an bag man.
By the way, the anonymous reader has already reported them. ISPs already co-operate with media companies and monitors traffic. The chances are they have monitored the post. But it won't matter because someone there will fink sooner or later.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
1. Threaten to quit if they don't comply.
2. Quit.
3. Mention that penalties for pirating software are more expensive than buying it in the first place.
4. Install Open Office instead, see if people notice.
5. Threaten to inform Microsoft/BSA.
6. Draft your letter to the company owners, but instead talk about how 'Open Office saves money' without mentioning your PHB's stupid plan to pirate Windows.
7. Go over your bosses's head and tell the owners what he's up to.
I'm sure other people will give you options as well. You obviously have principles, don't let your work overrule them.
You are reading a copy of my copyrighted post.
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.
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.
They asked you to violate the law and your own ethics, you gave them perfectly reasonable alternatives that would cost them nothing, and they still overruled you.
Tell me again why you are so attached to this job?
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
Are you aware that 7-Zip has a file manager mode that does the same kind of crap as winzip and winrar?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
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.
You might point out to them that all it takes is one disgruntled employee or ex-employee to make a complaint to the BSA (Business Software Alliance).
There is a bright spot, however. After they pay a few hundred thousand dollars to the BSA, they may be more willing to switch completely to open source software.
I would not install unlicensed software at work. If my boss insisted on it I would ask him to put it on paper with the specifics of the software name, the date, and that he knew we did not have a license. If he signs it taking full responsibility I'd go right ahead.
:)
Part of my job as I.T. Manager has been to make my boss aware of the liability of using pirated software, and of allowing employees to use pirating software like Limewire, etc. If they insist on doing things that expose them to liability it won't be because they didn't know it was a bad idea.
I'd be a little less weaselly than that. I'd stop at "I'm ready to begin installing Office on our PC's. From what I can tell, we only have XX licenses, so we can only install it on XX machines.", and let him specifically say that there are enough licences or to order me to do it anyway.
And if it's not against your principles, you're choosing between hoping it will blow over, and covering your ass. In most cases, I prefer the CYA approach -- cover yours, not your bosses'.
(IANAL)
The question that your statement begs is if the law is being violated by the majority, is it a just law?
This is the logic your mom used in that "If everyone else jumped off of a bridge, would you do it too?"
Just because everyone is doing it doesn't make it right. Then again, just because it is law, that doesn't necessarily make it right either. The only thing that can be taken from your statement is that if the majority is breaking the law then the validity, justness or application of the law to modern times needs to be revisited.
Copyright laws are meant to protect the rights of the intellectual property rights holder. Not necessarily the creator of that intellectual property, hence the RIAA.
If a software company is charging what the market believes is too much for software then the market adjusts itself by offering a better solution at a better price. Hence OpenOffice.
The black market in illegally traded software cannot be held up as a moral barometer to the current market and trends. The black market exists to undermine the establishment and is not in the best interests of open commerce. It will always exist no matter how just the laws that govern the market are. In addition, many proponents of teh black market support the poor behavior in the name of open software sources and standards. Which, in itself, is a fallacy.
That said, pirating software is flat out illegal. License agreements are put in place to protect rights that everyone has the right to protect. What makes pirating software wrong is that you are violating that license agreement that is meant to protect the intellectual property owner's rights. If you violate the agreement, you violate the rights of the owner because you take away thier control of thier intelletual property. When you violate rights outlined by something like, say, the U.S. Constitution, you are depriving someone else of thier rights and freedoms. That is a civil crime and punishable by the justice system established in this country.
If you feel that the law is unjust because "everyone is doing it" then, violating the law is not going to change it. Petitioning your elected officials in Congress will...provided you can get enough of that supposed "majority" to sign a paper saying that the law needs to be revisited and then voted on. Then again, there is a such thing as organized defiance of a law but it doesn't really apply to software piracy. Mainly because you are using that pirated software to your benefit. There can most likely be a monetary value associated with that benefit. If you are profiting off of that benefit and hoooo boy are you in for a doozie of a lawsuit! See, if you are benefitting from someone else's work/property, it's really difficult to claim some sort of organized definance of an "unjust" law.
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.
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.
The force in this case is that you're the IT guy. Can anyone think of the best thing about being the IT guy?
Anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
You can talk over people's heads and just make stuff up! Seriously. I ask myself this as the IT guy all the time: "Hmmm... do I really want to explain this or do I just want to make something up to get rid of this person?".
Many times, it's make something up. Besides pointing out the obvious illegality, you can just mention that everytime Office is opened the serial number is reported back to Redmond. If two people have it open at the same time then "BAM!" Microsoft sees a possible piracy issue.
Remember as the IT Guy that you possess specialized knowledge not unlike a doctor or a lawyer: professions where making stuff up is a time honored tradition.
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
I've been in a similar position where I was asked me to testify against my employer. My employer made it clear that if I did "my Career" path would be very limited. So I testified my company was found at fault and within 3 months I was asked to resign, at which point I refused. A few months later I was RIF'd from my position with no separation package. In the exit interview I simply stated "wonder how the lawyers" will feel about this. True to form I had an offer to leave and not come back but I would receive a paycheck for the next 18 months along with all my benefits. If you do the right thing you wont have any regrets. In your position I'm guessing you probably have a manager that is trying to look good by saving money. when the chips fall he's not going to stand in the way of some one else taking the blame. Remember you work for .gov and your expected to fall on your sword
no matter how good it is, it is human nature always wants to make things better
I love the fact that pretty much all the responses to this topic say "quit!"
It is amazing how easy it is to tell someone else to quit their job. The majority of people telling this guy to quit have probably installed lots of pirated software in the past, and they probably have music that they didn't buy. Why should you be so offended when your manager asks you to do something that you've already done in your personal life many times?
It is kind of like if you are a mass murderer and go to prison, and your cell mate asks you to kill someone in a cell down the hall. Shouldn't be that offended that he asked, should you?
Anyway, what this company is asking him to do is wrong. No doubt. But I love the fact that everyone here is so incredibly offended and now has all these morales that they didn't have last week when they were posting bits about how they trade music files without guilt because even though the law says it is illegal, they don't recognize the law as being valid.
Well, this is SLASHDOT, after all.
You've been asked to break the law. And if it's ever found out (and keep in mind the VAST majority of BSA audits are on the behest of disgruntled employees) you'll be the one on the hook. You don't want that.
Resign, and make no bones about why.
The more I think about it, the more the honest choice sounds right. You can't make dishonest people act right. When your boss is not honest, it's time to leave.
If they are going to fire him for refusing, they will lose the email and lie about that too if anything bad happens. They can also lie about the licenses. The boss will lie to HR and then paper his file as a trouble maker.
They've asked him to do something they think is wrong. There's no winning in a situation like that.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
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.
And the reason for that answer is best summed up by one of my all-time favourite quotations (from, I think, Alan Simpson): "If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters".
You should never allow yourself to be ordered into doing something illegal. However, your boss *can* put you in a no-win situation unless you take some precautionary steps.
The fact of the matter is that you need to *first* make sure that you handle the situation calmly. If your boss backs down, it doesn't mean he isn't going to hold a grudge against you if you caused his pet project to fail.
Proving why you have been fired can be a tough thing to do if time is allowed to pass. You need to evaluate if you can work with this individual in the future. If he is the type to hold grudges, start looking for another job, even if he seems to calm down. A boss who is willing to order you to break laws will see nothing wrong with trumping up means to decrease your performance ratings even if he doesn't fire you or target you for the next layoff. Moral high-ground isn't very comforting if you are sacked and not prepared for it.
If any boss gave me an illegal order, I'd instantly consider getting a new job. Even if you aren't fired, you may find yourself laid off after someone sues your company for similar actions.
Don't expect the legal system to protect you without preparation. If a boss calls you into his office and gives you an illegal order that you refuse, it will be very difficult to prove he ever gave the order if that boss denies it. Your word against his and all that. At that point, you are a potentially marked man, without recourse until you take some action to strengthen your position.
If the boss does manage to give you the order without any other witnesses, your first step is to go to his boss, with a co-worker and report that order was given. He needs to know about his underling, and you want the co-worker there to make sure that it is clear that you immediately went to him about it. It also prevents that person from covering your boss and his own backend, should he also be the unscrupulous type.
Be professional about it, though. I have had some bosses who were generally not bad people, but wanted to get the job done. If you can phrase your refusal in a way that is not indignant, but still a firm, "no", then you will be better off. He may realize he's been a jerk, but rubbing it in his face is a bad idea, unless you plan on leaving your job soon anyway.
I want to add to this that I find the moral implications to be of a different order altogether. It's one thing to violate copyright privately, quite another to do so in order to make a profit.
Moreover, companies are granted special protections and rights by the government. To balance this, they are expected to compete in the market. They must follow consistent rules in order for that competition to be (remotely) fair. Even if the law is broken and wrong (as I believe copyright is), that is not a sufficient justification for a business to take it upon itself to play fast and loose with the law. (Other justifications - such as important political or cultural speech, lifesaving treatment, artistic merit, or the ridiculously untenable position Digg just found itself in - may have merit. Profit does not.)
I know many small developers and web designers pirate their tools. I don't feel comfortable judging them; neither do I think it's my job to police big companies who can afford to pay but cheat anyway. But for myself, as a professional software developer (and no fan of Microsoft) I have spent thousands of dollars on Microsoft tools. I knew that I would not be comfortable with my actions, or feel my criticism of copyright to be wholly legitimate, if I did otherwise.
Now I develop free software, because that's what I believe in. The high cost of proprietary software only reinforces the advantages of the open model. When companies play by the rules, free and open source software wins.
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.
Document, document document - as in keep track of all communications and don't do any of it verbally. If you have verbal communications, email the parties involved with a conversation summary saying, "This is the summary of ourcoversation as I recall it. Please append comments or corrections if you believe them necessary".
One approach is to ask them to sign an affidavit stating you are doing this because told to, and that all parties recognize the illegality of it. If they fire you as a result of your "attitude", you probably have a case for taking them to court for illegal termination.
What ever you end up doing though, I'd get out of there ASAP.
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.
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.
For anyone working for the Federal Government and find themselves in a similar situation, report it to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, Disclosure Unit. This office "...serves as a safe conduit for the receipt and evaluation of whistleblower disclosures from federal employees, former employees and applicants for federal employment."
Ignore all the advice to quit. That may be a viable option for run-of-the-mill civilian jobs, but in federal service there is only one employer. Move to another position, yes, but don't give up a federal career over something so insignificant as this. And no, you are not expected to fall on your sword. You are expected to disclose fraud, waste, and abuse.
Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project
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.
I've been in a similar situation. I didnt make the email that formal, but basically wrote "Per out conversation, I will make X copies of WorldScope, based on your understanding that so many floating licenses are available." My boss wrote back "do not install." Then came by my desk and verbally said to install. THEN what do you do?
I call bullshit!! Care to cite a source?
If what you're saying is true then a career as a Hitman or mercenary would be a perfectly legitimate career. One could order and carry out assassinations with impunity.
An contract to commit an illegal act is not valid a contract. That is why contracts to kill cannot be enforced and legitimate hit agencies do not exist. The argument that you were simply holding up your end of the deal (even if it is through a limit liability corporation) is not a defense in court. Similarly, if you are ordered to do something illegal you cannot argue that you were obliged to do it unless the company threatened you or your family with physical harm.
AVG isn't free. AVG Free Edition is. I use it at home, and love it dearly. It's not free for business. I've installed AVG at four separate businesses, having proudly purchased each one. No one deserves it more. What a perfect product. It's general silence and (optional) non-disruptive activity/update/operation is what makes me smile most.
"That which does not kill us makes us stranger." -Trevor Goodchild
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
No reason to jeopardize your own job over a licensing issue for Microsoft. "Teacher teacher, Billy was talking when you were out of the room!" Dont go out of your way to rat out your coworkers or your own company that pays you. I wouldnt install the software though, because you certainly dont want to be liable if they get caught. Like the other posts, I would either make someone else do it or get something in writing from a superior telling you the copies are legal to cover your own a$$. No reason to go telling though.
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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These guys commenting need to get real. I have seen a lot of company IT departments, and so very few are completely pirate free. If your workplace does not have an unlicensed copy of WinZip or an evaluation copy of software that has run way past the evaluation, then you must have a very special organization.