Re: Social Contract
hendrik@topoi.pooq.com wrote:
On Thu, Apr 27, 2006 at 03:53:25PM -0500, Mike McCarty wrote:
[somebody else wrote, but the attribution is gone]
Wow, you do have a real clear grasp on Life.
I have a clear grasp of what is licensed and what is not. If a
company pays for a license to use software for its own use,
and someone uses it for other use, then he has no gripe if he
can't take/use the files he creates as far as I can see.
Well, he did it, regrets it, and says he'll never do it again. Because
the tree of proprietary software turns out to bear bitter fruit.
It may, it may not. I presume he may purchase his own copy,
and get his information, unless his former company objects.
If they object, then he shouldn't have it, anyway.
To put it another way, the acts he committed (if they are as
he described) could get him prosecuted if he worked for, say,
a school system. It's called "misappropriation", and it's a
crime. In this case, since it's just a corporation (AFAIK)
then it is just a tort.
Only if personal use of commpany equipment is forbidden by the company.
Certainly. Didn't intend to imply otherwise, though I see how it
seems that way. Certainly, if he worked for a school system or
other governmental agency it *is* misappropriation (at least in Texas,
where I know the law). For a company, depends on policy.
There are employers who tolerate this kind of thing, even encourage it
to a limited extent. I've spoke to managers who tell me they'd rather
Umm, I haven't worked for any which *encourage* this sort of thing,
though many will wink at it. Some agressively pursue this sort of
thing. For most, I think, it depends on the manager.
have employees take a few pencils from the supply cabinet to take home
thatn have them tense and worried about whether they'll get th the store
on time to buy their own. They are more productive when they are happy.
I recall a kid being asked on Art Linkletter's "Kids Say the Darndest
Things" program once, what her father did at work. Her reply was words
to the effect that "He makes lightbulbs and toilet paper." When asked
how she knew this, her reply was "Because that's what he brings
home with him from work."
I used to go around looking for mechanical pencils, pens, etc. on a
regular basis, and take them back to work. They wound up at home
inadvertently. Every few months I'd take them back and "resupply"
the supply cabinets from what I'd taken home in shirt pockets,
thoughtlessly.
Mike
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