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Software Piracy At the Workplace?
An anonymous reader writes "What does one do when a good portion of the application software at your workplace is pirated? Bringing this up did not endear me at all to the president of the company. I was given a flat 'We don't pirate software,' and 'We must have paid for it at some point.' Given that I was only able to find one burnt copy of Office Pro with a Google-able CD-Key, and that version of Office is on at least 20 computers, I'm not convinced. Some of the legit software in the company has been installed on more than one computer, such as Adobe Acrobat. Nevertheless I have been called on to install dubious software on multiple occasions. As for shareware, what strategies do you use to convince management to allow the purchase of commonly used utilities? If an installation of WinZip reports thousands of uses, I think the software developer deserves a bit o' coin for it. When I told management that WinZip has a timeout counter that counts off one second per file previously opened, they tried to implement a policy of wait for it, do something else, and come back later, rather than spend the money. Also, some software is free for home and educational use only, like AVG Free. What do you when management ignores this?"
Or, if you are in a position of relative authority (and not as afraid of getting canned) you can quote the $250,000 fines the BSA can assess PER VIOLATION and tell them it would greatly behoove themselves to switch to FOSS alternatives and cover their ass.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
I started this post with the idea that I would make a joke similar to what RMS says about piracy requiring guns and ships but when I stopped to think about the words pirate and piracy, it really is odd that they're used when software is executed outside the limits of a license. It's totally reasonable in the face of ridiculous license terms to want to get past all that and just use the software. That's why we've gone from no product keys to product keys to activation and now to automatic auditing like Windows Genuine Advantage. With invasive tools like WGA that can scan your system and send who-knows-what back to the developer even holding your system hostage against bug and security fixes, I'm starting to feel like piracy is closer to what's happening on the developer side of the equation. Just another reason to shift to free(as in freedom) software...
Yep - did the same thing at a company I worked for. Similar situation - their former "IT Manager" bought a copy of Office from Best Buy and installed it on all of the computers in the office, then called in to activate whenever it would fail the key check (which was frequently), along with a host of other software. I led with a carrot and a stick - we didn't have to become legit with everything all at once, but if steps weren't taking to become legit, there was "a greater than zero chance" that the BSA would sooner or later come knocking (never mind how they would know to look...). So, since a hardware refresh was coming up, they just bought an initial pack of Office Open Licensing to get started, then purchased an additional one whenever they replaced a PC. After a couple of years, one license at a time, they became compliant and all is good. Best of all, it spread the cost of compliance out so that, instead of shelling out tens of thousand of dollars in Office licensing all at once, they could spread it out over time. As an added bonus, if anybody did ask, they could honestly say they were taking steps to bring themselves into compliance.
That said, in my case, I had an advantage - the owner of the company didn't realize what the IT Manager was doing and wasn't terribly happy about it when she found out. In the original questioner's case, however, that might not be the case. If you can't find someone higher than you and/or your manager that's willing to support your efforts to bring the company into compliance, either through replacing existing software with legitimately free alternatives or through purchasing licensing (or some combination of the two), follow what everyone else is saying here: Document like mad, update your CV, and call the BSA.
The best case scenario is that you can migrate them to free software and be hailed a hero. Don't expect it though. Here are the best of the many ideas I've seen posted to slashdot on this recurring topic.
1. Consider putting a lawyer on retainer. Not as expensive as you might think and an hour or so's conversation can ensure that you document all the appropriate recommendations to keep you out of the BSA's sights and do so in a legally admissible fashion.
2. Don't make it look like a crusade so avoid being confrontational. i.e. "We need to find out who uses $software_package so we can put upgrades/support in next year's budget" or "Investigate free-for-commercial-use $kind_of_software to avoid budgeting needs entirely"
3. Document any time you bring it up with your boss. Use email or written word as much as possible. BCC an external email address and/or take backups of your exchanges home. (again, see #1 for region-specific laws)
4. Any time you are given a verbal pat on the head, do an email follow up later and if at all possible put the responsibility of license management on them. "I installed Office on the 2 new-hires' PCs. We have $quantity copies of Office installed to date. Let me know when we are getting close to our license limit as I may be able to remove the software from $clueless_user's PC."
5. List any of your little victories as fiscal savings during reviews or status reports. "Have replaced Adobe Acrobate Suite with $freeware_PDF_exporter, which will lower our licensing overhead by $250/user and allowed for widespread distribution"
6. Be prepared to be thrown under the bus. Companies willing to operate unethically are, by definition, unethical. Even if you never report them to the BSA, someone else might and you, as the IT guy, may be thrown to the wolves. Having that documentation of all the times that the CFO/CEO was stated to be in charge of license management and that you had no knowledge of the licensing limits, plus the fact they knew how many instances of software will at least ensure you get your unemployment and that the BSA won't come after you.
7. If you report them to the BSA, make sure to get the bounty and put your lawyer on notice. The BSA has a vested interest in concealing their informants, but stuff can come out and unethical people do unethical things. They often say or do things that are defamatory in the process. Whistleblower laws should ensure you can get compensation for lost wages, compensation for defamation, damage to career, etc.
I've been on slashdot so long I'm starting to get out of touch with the cool stuff if it ain't on slashdot.
The boss may be a sociopath, but even sociopaths can do the right thing if it happens to benefit them the most. Tell the boss that the BSA offers rewards for turning in companies that pirate software. Tell the boss that anyone can turn the company in. Tell him that, if that happens, based on his response to your initial reports and the fact that you are the software guy, you fully expect him to use you as his scapegoat.
Then tell him you can only see two ways out of this dilemma: one, he does the right thing and gets the licenses. Two, you report the company, collect the reward, and find another job. Tell him you don't want to choose the second option, but if he doesn't do the right thing, it is the only way you can protect yourself. Finally, remind him that option two is by far the more expensive option for the company.
At this point he will either become furious and fire you on the spot, gaining you some unemployment, or he will fix things. If he's a real sociopath, though, he may just fix things and then fire you anyway. It's probably best to pull this after you have another potential job lined up.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
You have a point, and I agree with you to some degree.
However, 1) just because we are not members of some type of professional society does not mean that we IT workers should hold ourselves to a lower standard than the professions you listed; and 2) to some extent, we do have professional "societies" that many of us belong to -- although admittedly, not quite as formal or as strict as the professions you referenced. How many IT workers hold certifications -- and have those certifications as prerequisites of their jobs? In many cases, prospective IT workers may never get past the HR department without a piece of paper that says MCSE, CCNA, CCIE, etc. Many of those certifications state that if you use ${certificationOrganization}'s software in violation of it's EULA, you will lose your certification...which can make reemployment elsewhere rather difficult.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Sorry, but no. That is called infringing on a copyright, not "stealing". Use the proper legal terms. I really don't care what your personal feelings are on the subject, just what the law says.
"But this one goes to 11!"
Well, the "service" business model doesn't work for everything, for example it wouldn't work with my program for which no support is needed. And as for the "sitting back and getting money for the rest of your life" argument, well so what, it's not the only case where that happens. People get lots of money from doing much less. Are you actually asking for how long are you entitled to receive money from the work you did after you stopped doing anything to it? Sounds like what you're pondering to me! Is it fair to reap the fruits from something you did 20 years ago? What's fair?
The elephant in the room here is that you all want to copy those immaterial works for free, and because of this you come up with bullshit moral justifications to get as much as you can for free. I pirate everything too, but I'm not an hypocrite, I don't try to disguise my not wanting to pay for things I can have for free as a moral war against injustice. You might think it conflicts with me selling software, but to me it doesn't, because there's no morals involved anywhere on either side of the equation. I pirate anything I want cause I need it/want it and I don't have the money for it and even if I did I'd rather not pay for what I can have for free, and on the other hand I need to make money, selling software is one way, and if my sales went down too low for a reason or another I'd look for job (which I'm actually in the process of doing, software sales are too irregular and make me just enough for a very modest living).
You just got troll'd!
"Endless copyright may be wrong but that will change eventually."
I beg to differ. History as well as current trends show that copyright law is getting more and more restrictive, less and less fair, and will continue to do so, UNLESS the people stand up and say, "Enough is ENOUGH!"
That ACTA treaty that is secretly being worked out scares me. The "IP Holders" seem to have all the say on it. As an international treaty, it will trump national law once a nation signs on to it. It seems that "3 strikes and you're out" will be an integral part of the treaty. But, NO ONE KNOWS anything for sure, because the *IAA's of the world are in, and the public is out of any discussion.
Copyright law could conceivably be as bad as anything Orwelle envisioned. It could even require police ware on your computer, which will report anything you do. Insane.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
The problem is that Slashdot has a whole lot of Ayn Rand Assholes floating around. These are people who need to think that they are superior to other people because they worship the magical market, and that it is their job to be exploited because the people above them are better people. To admit that they are being taken advantage of would be to act like "leeches."
Folks, people who do very little and who, despite what they claim, have no particular risk suck up most of your money. Organizations are team efforts, and while I think it's clear that those at the top should make more than those at the bottom, the vast armies of mid- and lower-level workers deserve a much bigger cut of the pie. There is no organization without them--just a bunch of sociopaths having a circle-jerk in a boardroom. "Men of talent" like to believe they don't need "mediocrites," but they most certainly do. An economy only exists when everyone is playing.
I have been contemplating joining a union myself. The Japanese education industry is starting to do some pretty crazy things--things that have become commonplace in the US, to the detriment of our system. They are attempting to keep us all on one-year contracts. This is a great deal for them, because they can fire people as enrollment rises and falls, but it means that one never knows if he can finish a research project--research being a type of marketing for a university, so it's not just for the researcher--and makes it very hard to get started. Furthermore, it hurts loyalty and productivity. When my school asks me to do things, the zeal with which I do it has a lot to do with my contract length. Getting involved in a project and then coming to the end of your contract and being let go hurts the project and makes one feel like they have been cheated (it's happened to me). Furthermore, to make sure that they are being fair, schools hold tight to the number of contract renewals they say you can have. It doesn't matter how beneficial your presence, they open themselves to legal liability if they let you stay, because someone else who isn't may sue. There was actually a panic and scramble at the end of my contract at my last place, because there was no one who could replace me. My boss tried to work out a deal to keep me, but administration made the (absolutely correct) liability point and off I went, and the project died after lots of time and money spent.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FIXES PROBLEMS LIKE THIS.
There is nothing wrong with asserting yourself and demanding a bigger cut of the pie--executives do it all the time! That's business!