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Re: [LUG] Scottish firm pays out £120,000 over unlicensed software

 

Paul Sutton wrote:
> Rob Beard wrote:
>> Julian Hall wrote:
>>   
>>> Rob Beard wrote:
>>>     
>>>> Anyway to get to the point, I'd be interested to know if unlicensed 
>>>> software on a staff members personal machine counts if it's been used on 
>>>> a company network.
>>>>
>>>> Rob
>>>>       
>>> If they're using it for company business then their employer might get 
>>> hit for vicarious liability if caught.  I'm no lawyer, but having done a 
>>> couple of years in uni with at least one module covering law as it 
>>> applies to IT, I *think* that could happen.  It's the old 'you are 
>>> liable for what they do on your premises and how they do it' argument.  
>>> A judge might say that the employer should make sure the staff are all 
>>> equipped *legally* to carry out their duties.
>>>
>>> They could even go at the employer if the computer in question *isn't* 
>>> being used for business, simply because it's on the premises and the 
>>> employer has responsibility for what happens there.
>>>
>>> I'm not aware of this being tested in court but it would be an 
>>> interesting one.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>>
>>> Julian
>>>
>>>     
>> Hmmm, I think I'll do a bit more looking into this.  Might even go as 
>> far as dishing out some 1GB Linux pen drives to staff who want to use 
>> their own laptops :-)
>>
>> Rob
>>
>>
>>   
> May be worth giving them a the url of the above article too, to raise 
> awareness of the issue of licensing and how much trouble can be caused 
> by people instaling stuff without proper authority.
> 

Already have.  I'm going to continue my FLOSS rollout today.  They have 
a PC which is running like a dog so I'm going to reinstall Windows and 
replace Office etc with FLOSS software.  I'm making a slow transition 
over to Linux where possible - unfortunately not all the software works 
on Linux and requires specific hardware, but I should be able to at 
least get 75% of the desktops running on Linux hopefully by Easter.

> All the more reason to promote free software really itsn't it, esp in 
> the current recession. 
> 

Yep, especially considering Office is about £200 to £300 a pop.

> after xmas I should be installing ubuntu for a colleague,  i don't have 
> a legal copy of Windows to install, and can't afford to buy one, so will 
> simply go for ubuntu, so its all nice and legal,
> 
> In fact, I  no longer run windows.
> 

Yay!  I can't say the same myself, my other half uses Windows on her 
desktop and laptop, my PC and the kids PC though run Ubuntu.

I'm wearing my other half down, she doesn't like Vista so in the end 
she'll have to make the switch.

Rob

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