A matter of ethics

[slimjramirez]

Current situation:

Co-worker obtained a copy of ACAD '09 from the University; however, I don't think this is an educational copy, and it's not LT either. He, at this very moment, is burning copies for everyone's personal use. I told him to count me out, and my talk about the illegality of this has fallen upon deaf ears.

I go to the bossman, bring this up, to which the reply is, "I don't give a sh*t what anyone does in this office, as long as the work gets done. And if it's illegal, it better not suck me in if anyone gets caught." This is also the same guy that told this particular worker to see if he could get Revit '09 from the school so that he could work on projects when not in the office. I don't know what the liscensing issues are in this office, but the red flag's are waving on that one.

I'm honestly thinking about going to the Info/Comp. department of the University (of which I am a student), and reporting this so that they may prevent further abuse by this coworker (a student), and I if I'm not mistaken, they are legally allowed to pursue obtaining this copy back from him as well as any copies that came from it. i.e. the very discs he's burning right now.

Short of physically taking these copies away, what advice do y'all have?

[bamaman83]

I think that you should go with your gut feeling on this one.

[rkent]

You should report it, and without the activation code it won't work anyway. I doubt Autodesk is going to issue multiple activation codes on the same S/N, especially in a short amount of time.

[Bloodwig80]

I think you should just let him be and mind your own business. What comes around goes around, you snitch on him and it'll come back to you eventually tenfold.

Let him steal software, eventually it'll come around and he'll be losing something. Remove yourself from the circle of ownage. That's my advice.

[slimjramirez]

You should report it, and without the activation code it won't work anyway. I doubt Autodesk is going to issue multiple activation codes on the same S/N, especially in a short amount of time.

That's kind of what's irritating the hell outta me right now, this dude's braggin' about how he got some key generator/cracked-version. Turns out, he got this from a buddy that works in the IT-dep't of the Uni.

But come to think of it, I know a few higher-ups in that dep't I could probably contact.

[rkent]

I think you should just let him be and mind your own business. What comes around goes around, you snitch on him and it'll come back to you eventually tenfold.

Let him steal software, eventually it'll come around and he'll be losing something. Remove yourself from the circle of ownage. That's my advice.

This is a more serious matter than most are willing to recognize. The business or University will be publicly humiliated when this gets out, fines will be paid, and the boss that doesn't care what goes in will more than likely lose their job.

Business Ethics is a big deal, and sorely lacking in business today.

Recognize that going about this anonymously is much safer than posting on the web with your name and place of business. Many whistle blowers lose their jobs or are retaliated against in other ways.

The Poster should go to the autodesk.com web site, search for "piracy" and look for a way to report this.

[slimjramirez]

Well I'm leaving this place in a few weeks anyways, and am trying to get out of design/drafting entirely (I'm aiming more towards project management/accounting), so any "You'll never work in this town again!"-tossbacks aren't gonna phase me.

The uni has had a slew of things like this happening, and it's biting students in the rear; A&M has a deal with Microsoft that allows students to purchase suites and stand-alone programs as MASSIVELY reduced prices. This was a great thing, b/c most students can't exactly drop $250-$400+, and it was more conducive to students being able to further their education outside of classrooms.

But more and more, when the new semester starts, eBay/classifieds get swamped with super-cheap programs b/c students are now getting the programs at discounts, then turning around and selling them for about $100 to make some quick cash. I'm all for free-enterprise, but these same students get into a hissy fit when the uni. starts talking that Microsoft is highly considering cancelling whatever deal/contract they have.

"We wanna make a quick buck offa someone else's program, then complain when that company starts refusing to sell us those programs."

Though not planning on remaining in drafting, I do like keeping up with technology. Whenever new Autodesk products come out at the school, I'd like to have the option of picking up a copy to mess around with at my leisure without having to worry about massive quantities of paperwork or giving an arm and a leg because dipsh*ts like my coworker are out spreading illegitamate copies for (presumably) commercial use.

As for karma, lol, there's not much to come back 10-fold about. And between some family members' health, and ID-theft of my bank account and SSN with the IRS, things can only go up from here