Piracy Whistleblowers Paid $57K In 2010 141
alphadogg writes "In 2010, the Software and Information Industry Association received 157 reports of alleged corporate end user software piracy. Of the 157 reports, 42 (or 27%) were judged sufficiently reliable to pursue. Of these, 16 qualified for rewards totaling $57,500. The profile of sources reporting software piracy indicates that most reports come from former IT staff – these are the people who typically witness the illegal use of software. 75% of all reports come from IT staff or managers, 11% from the company's senior management and 4% from outside consultants. More than 59% of those reporting are no longer employed by the target company. In fact, many of SIIA's sources report that their primary reason for leaving the target company was the company's lack of ethical behavior related to software compliance."
$3,593.75 average (Score:4, Insightful)
More than 59% of those reporting are no longer employed by the target company.
Yep, and I wonder how many are unemployable?
Or, how many can actually get another job?
Two things you never want to be associated with:
1. Thief.
2. Whistleblower.
$3,593.75 isn't worth it for me. If there were piracy going on where I worked and management was part of it, I'd keep my mouth shut and leave.
No company wants someone who's going to go reporting on illegal activity - none. They may say they do, but in reality, they don't.
Everyone, let alone entire companies, has something to hide. You may not know it, but you do - there's just too many laws, IP, regulations and whatnot to run afoul.
Not very effective. (Score:4, Insightful)
"In 2010, SIIA sent approximately 1400 demand letters, collected close $40,000 in restitution."
That's under $30/letter on average. From the SIIA website:
"Those who report piracy taking place within an organization to SIIA may be eligible for a reward of up to $1 million."
From TFA:
"In 2010, the Software and Information Industry Association received 157 reports of alleged corporate end user software piracy. Of the 157 reports, 42 (or 27%) were judged sufficiently reliable to pursue. Of these 16 qualified for rewards totaling $57,500."
$57k for 16 cases is a far cry from "Up to $1M". Could it be that they're being deceptive/misleading?
$3500 to get black listed by ever IT corp. (Score:5, Insightful)
OK So these people may feel morally better. They probably are.
But when asked the question during an interview. "Why did you leave you last organization?" Answer "Oh I turned them in for a few thousand dollars."
That is a career limiting move.
Yah it's wrong but it's true.
Then there is the industry. Only coughing up $57,000 grand total. That's not even an IT persons full time salary for a year. The reward or even stigma of the reward is doing more damage to personal lives than the good of correcting the poor behavior of companies. I'm sure MS has paid more for a poster about piracy than it paid out to people doing the right thing.
It just makes me shake my head.
Re:good (Score:2, Insightful)
Unlikely. It's just a cheaper path to the only solution they can employ. FOSS wasn't even on their radar.
Re:$3,593.75 average (Score:5, Insightful)
2. A whistleblower is a person who highlights inethical practices of otherwise unchecked entities without personal gain.
3. A snitch on the other hand sells out his peers for a small reward, which is exactly what is happening here...
Like you said everyone has something to hide and you should respect their privacy by letting them. This should only be violated for highly unethical practices that greatly affect people's lives, like whistleblowers do... These people are heroes who think of the greater good before thinking of themselves, they may be in low esteem from corporations but they are heroes to the common man. Snitches on the other hand are the scum of the earth who violate peoples privacy for mundane things like software piracy and get paid for it too... everyone rightfully hates a snitch because their actions are more unethical than the supposedly unethical things they snitch on. A whistleblower understands this equation of ethics and is on the right side of ethical behavior, a snitch only thinks of personal needs and grievances and does not take ethics into account until after the fact when it might be a good argument to hide their motives...
Re:FTW! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:$3500 to get black listed by ever IT corp. (Score:2, Insightful)
> "Why did you leave you last organization?"
"As a professional software developer, I wasn't prepared to stand by and watch other professional software developers suffer as a result of crimes carried out by my previous employer, nor did I want to participate in the aiding and abetting of criminals just because they're paying me.
Stigma? Please! Only a company which commits illegal acts would have a problem with this.
Re:$3500 to get black listed by ever IT corp. (Score:4, Insightful)
Only a company which commits illegal acts would have a problem with this
Every company commits illegal acts. The nature of our legal system is that it's impossible to go through a normal day without breaking a few dozen laws. This is especially true of copyright infringement. Are you 100% certain that every piece of software in your company is licensed? No one has kept WinZIP installed past the shareware period? No one has copied a program from another machine without checking the licensing? The Windows installs are all on the corporate license key and not OEM versions?
Re:good (Score:4, Insightful)
Some people would NEVER think about some commercial software if they couldn't pirate them...
Think about these many kids toying with programs like 3DStudio, Adobe Photoshop, ... Their budget is near to zero but they are learning to use these tools using pirated versions... The alternative is they playing with Gimp, Blender3D, ... Which would lead to more people interrested in these softwares which would greatly benefit to the FOSS.
The kids of today are the grownups of tomorrow...
Alternatively... (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, there is another plausible scenario:
Which isn't to say that some of those reports aren't made by highly principled people, of course. But I bet I know which category had the most hits...
I'd say it depends on the situation (Score:4, Insightful)
It isn't as though piracy in every company will be the same. So suppose that you work for a company and piracy is widespread, they don't pay for any of their apps. This includes apps by small developers, for who the couple thousand licenses would be a major, major sale. You go and talk to management about it and get told "You'll keep your mouth shut if you know what is good for you."
In that case, I'd say you are quite justified going to an anti-piracy group, even if they do offer a reward. After all you tried to deal with the problem internally and couldn't, and the company is just ripping off others for their own gain.
Now on the other hand if you work at a company where most software is licensed. You occasionally find some unlicensed stuff, but it is clearly not the norm or the policy. Things like users installing their own stuff because there are poor IT policies, or a group pirating something they need to do their job because their supervisor is incompetent. Management is clearly unaware of this, and you never bring it to their attention.
In that case ya I'll call you a money grubbing asshole if you go to an anti-piracy group. After all it is entirely possible that the situation would be rectified if brought to someone's attention and if you don't want to do that for risk of retribution, just let it go, it isn't a big deal.
Re:$3,593.75 average (Score:4, Insightful)
If your boss is using some software without proper license, it's just not worth it to be a snitch.
On the other hand, if your boss is dumping toxic chemicals into the water supply, is torturing people, or lying about weapons of mass destruction in order to start a war, it's definitely worth it to be a whistleblower.