Waging War on Business

[Voltage Spike]

On Tue, Feb 11, 2003 at 05:04:50PM -0700, Darrell Shandrow wrote:
> software as tools to make money!  If a business is doing the right thing
> with respect to its software use, then there should be no need for amnesty
> or for worries about what a disgruntled employee might say.  Just my $.02...

That depends on what you consider the "right thing".

If I were to run a business, why should I have to expend significant
amounts of money to track my software purchases?  If <company> wants to
prosecute me for copyright violations, shouldn't the burden be on
<company> to provide proof of my wrongdoing?

Suppose my company has 500 employees and one of them needs a copy of
<product>.  Should he be allowed to go to a retail outlet and purchase
that product?  If so, does that mean that the employers are responsible
for tracking their employees?  Someone mentioned a social fix (i.e.,
make it a policy to fire any employee who spends their own money to
accomplish a work-related task).  Is that really a solution?

Furthermore, the BSA does not accept the box, CD, and/or license as
proof of ownership.  You must additionally provide the receipt for that
purchase.  Since the employers must keep the receipts, how does an
employee claim that purchase on their taxes?

Suppose I run a tight ship and follow every procedure that the BSA
requires.  Do you honestly think that a BSA is going to be free?  First,
you must determine if you trust the BSA enough to allow them access to
your computers, networks, and probably very confidential data.  If a
customer's private data leaks out as a result of the audit, who do you
think is going to be sued?  Second, there is obviously going to be some
downtime while the audit takes place.  If nothing else, you are going to
have to dedicate employees to working with the BSA contractors.

To say that "there should be no need for amnesty or for worries about
what a disgruntled employee might say" is laughable.

-- 
                                                           Voltage Spike
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