Licensing is ignored

[Stevehewitt]

Hi Guys,

After a 4 week analysis and review I submitted my report to the MD regarding our licensing. We're about £20k under licenced.

Company said hold off, we don't have that money lying around but all future purchases must be legal so my report will stay accurate until we have the cash to get new licences.

However my line manager (who isn't the MD) has asked me to install some software and we don't have a licence for it. "It's only for a few days" - however I personally haven't got the time to run around PC's after a couple of days removing applications that we don't have a licence for.

My only choice is to show them how serious I am about this and present a document that essentially waivers me from liability. (E.G. a "I told you so" document in case we get busted)

Anyone have any ideas how to go about wording and approaching this sort of thing? Don't want to nark everyone off and put a strop on but I am not doing something illegal on company orders without a liability disclaimer.

Cheers,




Steve.

"They have the internet on computers now!" - Homer Simpson

 

[Welshbird]

Where abouts are you Steve?

The reason I ask is that my understaniding is that in the UK the IT Director is personally responsible for the licensing. Hence that position has been made redundant in many UK companies!

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[Stevehewitt]

!

I'm in the UK. My title is Network Administrator, with job roles inclusive of managing licensing. As a development house, and the first network admin I am under the operations/development department - so as such there's no IT department etc.

Any advice appreciated.




Steve.

"They have the internet on computers now!" - Homer Simpson

 

[LadySlinger]

To work around the solution, is there any way that you can purchase licenses just for the software that the non-MD needs?
Otherwise to enforce the licensing policy, just say "No". You don't have to install anything, even if its just for a couple of days. Worse case is the guy gets ticked off, goes to the web site and downloads a trial version. Then that resolves your issue.

Also, I would see if you could work out a plan with the MD to pay for the licenses over time. L20K (sorry don't have the pound sign on my keyboard) is a lot to pay at once, so see if you can work in quarters of the year to bring the licenses up to notch.

Plan on looking to when you're upgrading and hold off until then to purchase the licenses.

 

[SQLBill]

Dear....,

If I am to legally install this software on your computer, even for a short time, we will need to either purchase an additional license or remove the software from someone else's computer for the time that you need it. As I cannot remove software from authorized users without permission, I suggest you take this up with <name of higher individual>. Once I have approval to remove the software from another computer, I will do so and load it on your system.

Thank you for your understanding,

.....

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

 

[aarenot]

laugh loudly and enthusiastically at the dude that is requesting ilegal action by you to his face. that should either piss him off, and get him to go report you, and therefore himself to the higher ups, or get him to shut up and leave you alone. if he tries to take disciplinary action, lol, he is inviting the fact that he has committed a crime himself in his instructions to the record. attempted conspiracy to commit fraud would not be too far fetched. also, 20k would be a nice chunk of change to get a percentage of for reporting the company, and this guy. if they have that type of thing in the uk, in the us, you can get paid to turn in the thieves.


lol

 

[Stevehewitt]

Thanks guys,

The issue is that my line manager has told me this - e.g. it's come from the management. This isn't the first time he has 'bended' the law/rules of licensing to suit the company.

I told the guy who wanted the MSDN licence / Visual Studio no - we haven't got any licences. It's not the end users fault, but for him to work productivly on this project he needs it. So he spoke to my manager who authorised me to install in. (Well, told me to install it)

Anyone know where I stand legally? I can't just refuse but then again I don't want any part of commiting a crime.

Any other advice much appreciated!

Thanks,




Steve.

"They have the internet on computers now!" - Homer Simpson

 

[LadySlinger]

Document the incident. I.e. did your manager tell you or did he email you? And did the person that talked with your boss, was that through email or spoken word?

If both were spoken, I would just keep a log on your computer (as well as forward an updated copy home) stating the date and what you are being instructed to do and by whom.

That's the best answer I can give you.

 

[aarenot]

do you really think this is ever going to change, and if it does not, do you really want to work in this place. at least when asked, request an email to remind you to schedule the time. try following up with an email stating that you have no licenses available, and asking for further instructions. if the response is verbal, respond with an email to confirm the instructions. copy a personal em account with the emails.

their obvious indifference to honesty is not going to make you think that they are going to admit it was not by your own independent decision that you installed the software with stolen licenses. get cya documentation of the instructions, or take personal responsibility for the actions, as that is what you will be doing in reality. you will get blamed for it when the chit hits the fan.

 

[SQLBill]

Do the 'higher' ups know about this? I would let them know as they are the ones going to be sued by Microsoft. You can tell the line manager that you have to get the higher ups approval since it's a licensing issue.

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

 

[rosieb]

Steve

I suggest that you tell your manager that you'll load any software he asks you to, after all that's your job...

...Just as soon as he gives you a written instruction to do so, with an assurance that he will take care of the licencing issues.

Rosie
"Don't try to improve one thing by 100%, try to improve 100 things by 1%

 

[KornGeek]

While it is very easy to suggest refusing to do something without written authorization (or similar assurances), it is much different to actually do that when placed in the situation. I agree that it would be the best thing to do if you actually can do it. If you fear for your job security over this issue, it might not be the best idea.

Rather than a confrontational refusal, another option would be to send an email to the manager explaining that you are uncomfortable with the idea in light of the recent discussions of the desire to move toward rather than away from compliance. If you also cc the upper management, you could bring their attention to the issue as well.

While still having some risk, this frames the discussion more along the lines of "I'm trying to do what was previously discussed." rather than "I refuse to do what I believe is wrong."

 

[Ed2020]

What about maintaining the information you have now put together on license numbers against number of installations and submitting a monthly audit report via email showing installation counts are higher than license counts.

What they choose to do with that information is entirely up to them. Make sure you keep all your emails so you can demonstrate you made the relevant people aware.

Keep a log of all requests and who they were approved by as well.

Ed Metcalfe.

Please do not feed the trolls.....

 

[aarenot]

i agree that refusal is probably not the best route. to perform the request without informing the requesting person, and the powers that be would also not be the best route.

add the proposed additional underlicensing increase to your report to the md. you might add a line in the report for propsed, and scheduled underlicensed implementations. after all, you are just updating the report with data as that data comes in. just doing your job as you were instructed to do, and reporting to the md as instructed. send the report via em, and ask for a reply to confirm it was recieved. consider an electronic return reciept on the em. then you are just doing what was assigned to you in a highly responsible, ownership, initiative taking way.

 

[mattKnight]

Why not purchase a new licence for the software.

as I see it

but all future purchases must be legal so my report will stay accurate until we have the cash to get new licences.

is a committment to not "digging the hole deeper", so I'd hold off on the install until the purchase order for a new licence is approved (and the licence delivered)

Take Care

Matt
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

 

[kmcginn]

I would send an e-mail copying both parties and any and all managment above them. Summarize your conversation with them, and remind them, as Matt said, that all future purchases were to be legally licensed. I would have a statement in there along the lines of: "In order to comply with licensing laws, as soon as I get a PO (or whatever suthorization you need in your company) to purchase the license, I'll be glad to install the software for you."

That way everyone know what the situation is, and you have covered your responsibility.

Good Luck

 

[ProbablyDown]

Or there can be an anonymous call to MS...

 

[jrbarnett]

AS I understand UK law, disclaimers have no legal base. In other words, all those phrases in license agreements that claim to not be responsible if some piece of commercial software crashes a critical live server aren't worth the bytes of disk space used to store them, they'd be laughed out of court.
Under UK law it is the company directors who have responsibility for the day to day management of the company. If they choose to delegate that when knowingly breaching terms and conditions I think Steve would be able to rest easy as the directors would be the ones prosecuted, should thie get to court.
Remember that in the UK an email is classified as a written document and legally carries the same weight as if it were on headed paper.

John

 

[SQLBill]

John,

Steve never said anything about the request being in an email (or I missed it). That means that it's his word against the manager in a legal action.

Steve: My manager told me to install it even though I let him/her know we didn't have enough licenses.

Manager: Steve's lying. He never told me there weren't enough licenses or I would not have let him install this. He's the IT person, so he's supposed to know what licenses we have and only install sofware that is licensed. We weren't aware he was installing software illegally.

I wonder who would be found guilty in court? Everyone has deniability EXCEPT Steve.

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

 

[jrbarnett]

True, Steve didn't say anything about an email. I just assumed as a CYA action "I told the guy" was in writing rather than verbally.
My apologies for any confusion caused.

John