Pirated software at a company?

Question

I recently had a position at a small web development shop in the US where virtually all software used on a daily basis was cracked. My own IDE was paid for, and I used open source software personally while there, but I was still required to use MS Office and various Adobe products.

For a myriad of reasons, I found a new job, but I'm curious. What does this community feel about turning in companies which condone the use of stolen software? Should I report them immediately, or just move on? It's one thing to make a personal decision to use stolen software, but what about requiring your employees to follow suit?

Answer 1

I was in that situation but decided against turning them in because I wasn't sure if I was making an unbiased decision.

Answer 2

I would only tattle if they pushed first i.e. they forced me to use their pirated software or face disciplinary action. I personally don't have a problem with software piracy, it's a fact of life in the industry we work in. But for a company to force you to use software they obtained illegally in this day in age, when there are so many viable open source alternatives, is a little bit much.

If they just said, "here, use this illegally downloaded software if you'd like to," and let me use other software if I felt like it, I would just move on and forget about them.

Answer 3

If it was an out-of-the-ordinary thing, I'd let it go; however, your case is more systemic. The fact that the company required the use of certain software is the most telling bit.

I'd give that corporation a warning, and if they fail to heed that warning, then turn them in to the BSA.

Answer 4

What they use is not your business, for as long as this does not affect you. If your personal working place is 100% legal, they do not ask you to use pirated software, pay you the salary, just work and don't think too much.

If they ask you to use pirated software, you have two options, either agree and be complicit or to reject. If in the latter case you get fired, then you can pursue legal ways to request compensation for lost time, income and other damages.

You got out of there and did the right thing. Enjoy the life.

ADDED: The question of morality of turning the company over is not that easy. The moral varies from culture to culture. In some countries (mostly of western civilization) communicating every act of lawbreaking (even within family/parents/children) to authorities is a normal practice. In other countries this could be considered a highly amoral action with the actor losing his face/respect of others and under circumstances even risking getting revenge (seriously consider it if your action will ultimately ruin their business). I'd personally would consider a neutral position. If they don't ask you personally to use pirated software and they are good to you, respond in kind. If they ask you to use it, you decline and they throw you out, then you can approach them and ask for compensation for the complete period until you find another place. If they don't take seriously, then you can consider whether it is worth the trouble (say, you relocated to another town, rented an appartment and now you're out) or not (you just take one of the other job offers you hopefully had). In any case, the decision is yours.

Answer 5

My opinion is to report it. At a corporate level, if they want to use the software and not in an evaluation situation, they should pay for it, plain and simple. The BSA has a good anonymous reporting scheme, and you could get a reward.

Answer 6

I would first approach the "powers that be" regarding this practice. If they refuse to listen, take it to the BSA or whoever handles this in your area.

A company that sells a product expects to be paid for that product. I'm sure if the shoe were on the other foot (i.e. the company's product was being pirated) they would pursue it. It is idiocy to think you can sell product but cheat others out of theirs.

Answer 7

I've been faced with this sort of thing, and my solution has always been to go over my management's head asking an "innocent" question, to make sure it's known all the way to the top.

When asked to take part in a scheme to defraud a vendor, I emailed the company's lawyers asking whether they felt I could be held criminally responsible, and if so, whether they would pay for my defense.

Of course by doing this you're asking to be fired. In this case, it was a large enough company (publically traded with a multi-billion dollar market cap) and I had enough political capital built up that it caused them to correct their behavior and increase my bonus. But I was not counting on this.

If it's already known all the way to the top, you have to decide whether you consider it more unethical to pirate software or be a rat. In cases I've dealt with this sort of thing, I was just making sure that the policy was known to upper management. Also in the case where I emailed the company's lawyers, I was asked to be an active participant and had been complaining about the situation for a full year. I was not simply asked to look the other way.

Answer 8

Using Free Software instead was definitely the right way to go. In my opinion one of the main things holding Free Software back from wider acceptance among the public at large is the general public's lack of respect for software licenses. If everybody suddenly started obeying the letter of their software licenses and the law, Microsoft's installed user base would probably be cut in half overnight.

As for being forced to use unlicensed software, that's a toughie. It is important that you make sure everyone understands that what they are asking you to do is illegal, and that you know they are asking you to break the law (or help them break it). If they still insist at that point, of course the Right Thing would be to quit on the spot. Folks with kids to feed and mortgages to pay often feel they have to do less drastic things. But we all like to think we'd do The Right Thing.

Answer 9

This is a simple answer. The company is doing something other than what is in the nature of my character an beliefs. I have only achieved in this life through being truthful and honest in my dealings.

I'm leaving the company.

Answer 10

As long as the company is not doing anything that endangers you, endangers others, or places you at legal risk (and using the software provided by the company no matter how ill-gotten does not place you personally at risk) I think it is fair of the company to make the request and it would be underhanded and slimey to turn them in. Sorry, but we can say anything moral and ethical we want all we want, but at the end of the day its just like your mother told you as a child -- no one likes a tattle-tale.

Now, if your company requests you to use illegal software, and you have voiced your objections, and you feel strongly about those objections, and the company has chosen to ignore them, then you also should consider leaving the company -- not because of the software but because your company obviously has no respect for you.

Answer 11

I can't identify where I work, other than "it's a government agency".

It flabergasts me that many (?maybe most?) people in our IT department use some piece of software illegally every day... everything from text editors to RDBMS's.

While much of the software I use at home is "of questionable lineage", none of the software I use at work is even remotely "grey".

If I am using your product(s) to earn my living then it is asbsolutely my responsability to ensure that you recieve a fair share of the fruits of our combined labours. I couldn't DO my job without tools, good tools. I pay for my tools, and I pay more for good tools, just like a carpenter.

There are good reasons why a DeWalt drill costs ten times as much as "the equivalent" Back&Decker. The DeWalt works, reliably!, which is worth money to me, and my customers.

Would you condone a carpenter "stealing" a drill from ToolCity? Why or why not?

Would you condone a programmer "stealing" a compiler from Borland? Why or why not?

Would you condone a starving peasant "stealing" deer from the Kings Park? Why or why not?

What are the differences?

What do you think would happen to drill manufacturers if most people thought it was "fair enough" to steal drills? Who would go broke first? DeWalt or Back & Decker?

Cheers. Keith.

Answer 12

I'm not sure I would handle "reporting" them to the BSA, because of cultural issues and because the BSA, like the RIAA, is doing evil under a legitimate cause.

That being said, as a software developer I am perhaps more altruistic (or naive) and I am feeling more sensitive to software companies getting paid. More software piracy means less jobs and lower pay for a lot of us and indirectly myself. I feel that most business software that is used by software companies is fairly priced, and that large companies like MS have recently been more sensitive to the needs of small shops rather than huge enterprises in their licensing and pricing schemes. Licensing most typical software should cost a small fragments of what the employees cost.

In addition, there are sufficient acceptable alternatives if one prefers not to use major products. If I ran a company doing .NET development, I'd expect to pay for .NET.

There are also cheaper alternatives. I would argue that most PDFS that the average dev needs to generate can be created without adobe, there are cheaper alternatives. So maybe the solution is limiting the amount of available software and paying for it.

Answer 13

I'll take a middle of the road approach: Does it represent a lost sale? I have a hard time being bothered by piracy that doesn't represent lost sales.

Thus if the company is in the red would any good be done by driving them farther into the red, likely out of business? However, if they are decently in the black the case for reporting it grows much stronger.

Since this is apparently a government agency it's not going to be forced out of business by paying for it's software and furthermore I think the government should be held to a higher standard. Report it.

Edit: I'm NOT saying it's right, I'm saying that if there is no lost sale I don't see it as that big a wrong.

Answer 14

I would quit, obviously.

I wouldn't turn them in though. There is just nothing for me to gain that way. Only creating hard feelings, and possibly losing time talking to the police or being a witness in a trial.

So, the plan for highest expected value for me is: 1) get out 2) forget it 3) use my time on productive things

Answer 15

I worked at a place like this in 2001. We were a small startup hurting for money etc. I brought the fact up to my boss that the SQL and IIS servers were all pirated and that we did not have licenses. Two weeks later I lost my job, no severence nothing. I called my lawyer who in turn called my old boss and his boss and I got a 4 week severence. My lawyer did this as a favor.

I was cool with my boss when I brought this up. We were looking for VC and I was of the opinion that if we were busted in an audit that we'd look like a third rate web shop.

Long story short, the company went under a few months after I left and my old boss is now doing real estate, which I assume is not working out well for him considering the current market. It's all karma.

Answer 16

these have to do more w/music, but they are very contrasting ideas on pirating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUgB0hNf0bs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkWKvMCzqA&NR=1

enjoy :)