Question about compnay policy

[Ron Crash]

I have a "hands-on" Vice President that will not listen to me about
licensing issues. We've already been nailed once for BSA violations and
paid the fine. Now we are going around in circles AGAIN about not
installing MS Office XP on Terminal Services and he faults Microsoft for not
being more specific or they are using a "good faith" policy. I'm really at
a point now that I just can't work here despite the money and lack of jobs
out there. Everytime I'd have my techs uninstall what he'd install, the
next day it would be back on there and the usual answer of "I don't know how
that got on there!?!?". It's a family owned business btw. Anyone
experience this or have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

 

[Matthew Harris [MVP]]

First of all, you should lock things down so an install
can't occur. You should look into using appsec.exe
(application security) which came in the Microsoft Windows
2000 Resource Kit. This, combined with NTFS permissions
and group policies, can make user installs a thing of the
past.

Check out this link:

www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?
url=/technet/prodtechnol/win2kts/maintain/optimize/secw2kts
..asp

Second, you should refer him to this site about licensing
for Office:

www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/pricing/licen
soffice.asp

The licensing isn't confusing. Just buy a license for
each user. Plain and simple. If there is confusion, then
reply to this post and we'll work on it.

-M

 

[DWM]

Integrity can be a lonely place. Unemployment is probably worse considering
the details you've shared.

I recommend you hammer away at getting them to go legal and hang on to your
job.

If your company owners think the software cops will be coming after you,
they are dead wrong and the family would have no legal grounds to come after
you. Don't let them intimidate you. Continue to document the events. Do
the best you can to make it legal an document that as well.

The only way you can get into trouble here is if you stop trying to change
it, if you stop protesting and if you stop documenting your efforts. Hey,
you know what, if they don't change or if you get fired/layed off, Turn
them in!

The owner of the company is responsible for this issue. How he interprets
the document is his deal. How Microsoft interprets the licensing documents
is what counts. He's not too sharp if he doesn't understand that.

I once had a former employer ask me to setup a method to spy on (data wise)
computers we supported for another company. We were on the same network and
shared some resources...

I found another position and quit within 30 days. When the time is right, I
tell my peers about that experience and I mention the names (I live and work
in a small community). This is not a "get even" attempt but an effort to
communicate the truth about the type of business these people are running.
I could go on...

Think about this the next time you are about to accept a position. Does the
company or boss you are going to work for think integrity is as important as
you do?

DWM