Ethical question - please check it out, it's good
Mariusz Mazur
right thing to do:
Trouble in Sardonia żDo Copyright Ethics Change Overseas?
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Luke Atwater is on the fast track at JKL Corporation, headquartered in
Dallas, Texas. JKL is a billion-dollar contractor for oil companies,
specializing in heavy-duty oil-well drilling and pumping equipment. Luke´s
last job was to manage the start-up of a marketing branch in Chicago where,
among other tasks, he was responsible for installing all hardware and
software for the branch office. The office occupied the entire fifteenth
floor, 23 rooms in all, of the Sears Tower. He had to network PCs for all
offices with the appropiate productivity software. This included spreadsheet
systems, word processing software, and a JKL Corporate Marketing Package.
Luke completed the job in only four months, even though Pamela Courant, his
immediate supervisor, had given him six months to do it. Pamela is the
Corporate Vice President for Information Systems and Administration in
Dallas.
Now Luke is in his next posting, in Russula, Sardonia, trying to repeat his
stunning Chicago performance. He´s been here for four months already, and
practically nothing has happened, except that the old Wisteria Hotel has
been remodeled into some semblance of an office building. He knows he´s got
to pick up the pace, or his job will be up for grabs.
Pamela told him over the phone before he left, "Luke, I expect more from you
now. The Sardonia office is our first international office, and it could be
the key to our international expansion. It has to be in the black-that means
profitable, making money-in six months. I´ll give you those six months as I
did in Chicago, but I expect you to do better than that."
Luke remembers his misgivings about being able to meet this newest deadline.
Sardonia´s pace is definitely slower than Chicago´s, because of its
easy-going culture and stifling bureaucracy. But he sees one unexpected
compensation for the difficulties he has encountered: Sardonia´s economy is
far less developed than it could be. Anything JKL does for this country will
be greatly appreciated and will reflect well on the company.
Luke expects no ploblems with the hardware. JKL managed the transshipment of
all PCs from its headquarters in Dallas. All Luke had to do was to notify
pamela exactly how many PCs of what type, how big a central server, and how
many feet of cable he needed. The shipment came in yesterday, and the parts
are already being distributed. Luke knows that there will be some of the
usual problems with wiring, but resolving them shouldn´t take more than a
week or two.
The real problem, Luke thinks to himself, is going to be the commercial
software for word processing and spreadsheets. Pamela specifically requires
that all JKL offices use Multisoft´s MultiGrid and MultiWrite. Luke has been
in phone contact with Multisoft for the past two days. He described to them
the layout of the office, including the number of standalone PCs and those
that would use a central server. He knew that in Chicago, the cost for site
licenses for such a setup would be $40,000 for 100 to 249 users, and $75,000
for 250 to 499 users. He was surprised to learn that for international
sites, including Sardonia, the costs are $90,000 and $175,000 respectively.
Luke calls in his software manager, Grifolo Frondoso, a native Sardonian
familiar with both packages. "Grif, I want you to order MultiGrid and
MultiWrite for our office. How many copies of each do you think you´ll
need?"
"Well, I should get at least 350 of each, if you expect this office to grow
during the next year. We´ve got enough money budgeted for that. It shouldn´t
add up to more than about $2,000 U.S."
"I hate to give you the bad news, Grif, but JKL can´t use low-grade word
processing and spreadsheet software. It has to be Multisoft, and Multisoft
wants $175,000 for that many users. That´s way beyond the $90,000 our budget
allows."
"That makes no sense, boss. We don´t have to order from Multisoft here. I
can get you copies of the exact same software for a dollar over the cost of
the diskettes, all legal and above board."
"Sure, but that´s not the latest release. And besides, that´s copyrighted
software. You can´t do that."
"Yes, we can, here in Sardonia. The U.S. software copyright laws don´t apply
here. We can get as many copies as we want of the newest versions. Or, we
could order one fresh copy from Multisoft and make copies."
"Even if we were to do that, we´d be without manuals. We´ve got to have
manuals at each station, so that kills your idea. And don´t forget future
revisions."
"No problem. We can copy the manuals too, or we can pay a local printer who
needs the work to print high-quality copies for about $3 each. That still
falls under the $90,000 limit, by about $88,000. And don´t worry about
revisions. We´ll get them, too. Hey, just imagine your reputation when you
deliver this site that faar under budget."
Luke stands up and walks to the window overlooking Russula´s oppressive
slums, saying nothing. He´s deep in thought for some time, them turns to
Grifolo Frondoso and says, "Here´s my decision. We´ll."