What would you do, if you were in my shoes?
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I found a programming job in a company recently, mostly to write in c++. After two weeks something new happened. My boss asked me to hack a plug-in that is too expensive to buy in my country. They are going to sell the plug-in and if I don't do the hack, I'll probably lose my job. It is very hard to find a job opportunity where I live due to economical problems. If I don't hack the plug-in, they simply forget using or selling that. I mean, they won't buy it anyway, furthermore that company isn't able to sell it's product here due to governments prohibitions. But I understand the effort they put to produce that piece of software. I think I'm able to hack it technically, but not for this purpose(Selling other's work and effort.) What would you do, if you were in my shoes? Leave the job?:confused:
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I found a programming job in a company recently, mostly to write in c++. After two weeks something new happened. My boss asked me to hack a plug-in that is too expensive to buy in my country. They are going to sell the plug-in and if I don't do the hack, I'll probably lose my job. It is very hard to find a job opportunity where I live due to economical problems. If I don't hack the plug-in, they simply forget using or selling that. I mean, they won't buy it anyway, furthermore that company isn't able to sell it's product here due to governments prohibitions. But I understand the effort they put to produce that piece of software. I think I'm able to hack it technically, but not for this purpose(Selling other's work and effort.) What would you do, if you were in my shoes? Leave the job?:confused:
First, is your company a public or private company? There are 'whistleblowing' rules for both but they are more stringent for public companies. Second, document ALL conversations about this: time, place, etc. You may need it later. Third, (after doing research etc and documentation) ask your boss if this is his/her idea, or if this idea has been 'approved' by higher ups. Find out who they are. Don't let the manager just say 'yes' and document it. Also ask if the manager understands this could be breaking the law (obviously it is but find out their extent of knowledge on it.) Fourth, I would go to HR with the documentation and let them know that you have been asked to do something illegal and you do not feel comfortable with it. Give copies of your documentation to the HR rep. This way you should be protected (jobwise) from firing. However, if you stay with the same manager they may hold a grudge so you should always keep documenting.
______________________ stuff + cats = awesome
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I found a programming job in a company recently, mostly to write in c++. After two weeks something new happened. My boss asked me to hack a plug-in that is too expensive to buy in my country. They are going to sell the plug-in and if I don't do the hack, I'll probably lose my job. It is very hard to find a job opportunity where I live due to economical problems. If I don't hack the plug-in, they simply forget using or selling that. I mean, they won't buy it anyway, furthermore that company isn't able to sell it's product here due to governments prohibitions. But I understand the effort they put to produce that piece of software. I think I'm able to hack it technically, but not for this purpose(Selling other's work and effort.) What would you do, if you were in my shoes? Leave the job?:confused:
First off, you need to do exactly what Leckey has already stated: document all conversations, make hard copies of EMails, since digital can be destroyed easily. Consider recording verbal conversions, remember that you must notify the person you are recording, or lay the recorder out "in the open", so at least they are aware: you can always say that you do this, because you'd rather record the conversion for later review, instead of note taking, this way, you can concentrate on the topic of conversation taking place (or whatever works for you). Considering attempting to find an Open Source alternative or another viable alternative that your company can purchase. I realize that you are under "constraints" and wouldn't post the name/company that develops the plug-in you are being asked to crack, but if you tell us what it is your company is needing, perhaps someone here could direct you to a solution (and you need not indicate if the solution provided is already what you have 'on the table'). Places like Source Forge[^] have a vast amount of open source projects that do, well, just about everything you can dream of ... I would find it difficult to believe that there isn't something out there already ...
:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL -
First, is your company a public or private company? There are 'whistleblowing' rules for both but they are more stringent for public companies. Second, document ALL conversations about this: time, place, etc. You may need it later. Third, (after doing research etc and documentation) ask your boss if this is his/her idea, or if this idea has been 'approved' by higher ups. Find out who they are. Don't let the manager just say 'yes' and document it. Also ask if the manager understands this could be breaking the law (obviously it is but find out their extent of knowledge on it.) Fourth, I would go to HR with the documentation and let them know that you have been asked to do something illegal and you do not feel comfortable with it. Give copies of your documentation to the HR rep. This way you should be protected (jobwise) from firing. However, if you stay with the same manager they may hold a grudge so you should always keep documenting.
______________________ stuff + cats = awesome
What's HR? Human resource? If you are talking about Managers, I shall say they all know that. It's a private company and in my country this job(hacking) is not illegal for foreign softwares( Softwares that produced outside of the country.) No rules to bound them, at the moment, so later on, I certainly will not be asked why I did that. The whole country is full of pirated softwares.:( This is just a personal filling:sigh:. I don't like to rub something and then sell that. If I do, what's the difference between me and a thief? But at the same time I'm thinking that, by doing that the plug-in producer company is not loosing any thing. This is a special rubbing. I'm really confused.
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I found a programming job in a company recently, mostly to write in c++. After two weeks something new happened. My boss asked me to hack a plug-in that is too expensive to buy in my country. They are going to sell the plug-in and if I don't do the hack, I'll probably lose my job. It is very hard to find a job opportunity where I live due to economical problems. If I don't hack the plug-in, they simply forget using or selling that. I mean, they won't buy it anyway, furthermore that company isn't able to sell it's product here due to governments prohibitions. But I understand the effort they put to produce that piece of software. I think I'm able to hack it technically, but not for this purpose(Selling other's work and effort.) What would you do, if you were in my shoes? Leave the job?:confused:
Good evening Kyle. Trolling time is it?
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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First off, you need to do exactly what Leckey has already stated: document all conversations, make hard copies of EMails, since digital can be destroyed easily. Consider recording verbal conversions, remember that you must notify the person you are recording, or lay the recorder out "in the open", so at least they are aware: you can always say that you do this, because you'd rather record the conversion for later review, instead of note taking, this way, you can concentrate on the topic of conversation taking place (or whatever works for you). Considering attempting to find an Open Source alternative or another viable alternative that your company can purchase. I realize that you are under "constraints" and wouldn't post the name/company that develops the plug-in you are being asked to crack, but if you tell us what it is your company is needing, perhaps someone here could direct you to a solution (and you need not indicate if the solution provided is already what you have 'on the table'). Places like Source Forge[^] have a vast amount of open source projects that do, well, just about everything you can dream of ... I would find it difficult to believe that there isn't something out there already ...
:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTLDouglas Troy wrote:
if you tell us what it is
An ISA Server application filter that limits the inbound and outbound traffics of users of a particular ISP, So that a user can connect at any time a day and use X MB in/outbound traffic to down/upload Y(limited) amount of data. I hope managers don't see this.
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I found a programming job in a company recently, mostly to write in c++. After two weeks something new happened. My boss asked me to hack a plug-in that is too expensive to buy in my country. They are going to sell the plug-in and if I don't do the hack, I'll probably lose my job. It is very hard to find a job opportunity where I live due to economical problems. If I don't hack the plug-in, they simply forget using or selling that. I mean, they won't buy it anyway, furthermore that company isn't able to sell it's product here due to governments prohibitions. But I understand the effort they put to produce that piece of software. I think I'm able to hack it technically, but not for this purpose(Selling other's work and effort.) What would you do, if you were in my shoes? Leave the job?:confused:
First off I would change my socks(humor). I applaud your ethics and I understand that feeding you family has to happen. Leckey and Douglas have offered some good alternatives but in the long run I doubt that you will be able to remain where you are. The problem will show up as your conscience having to know that they either made you do something wrong or tried to. The other thing to consider is that if they will steal software they will also take advantage of you. Start looking right now and be sure to protect yourself by following the advise already presented especially about getting everything printed out. Don't be to hard on yourself if you end up having to do the unethical work it was not your decision. I would suggest that a possible argument to buying the software is that there are ways to negotiate the purchase if the company cannot sell their software locally. I have been in the position you are in and it is stressful so best of luck. Kevin
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Good evening Kyle. Trolling time is it?
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
What's this? I'm not Kyle. I think you replied to the wrong post.
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What's this? I'm not Kyle. I think you replied to the wrong post.
I'm sorry, but you're trying to pretend to be from a foreign country where hacking is legal. Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries. Now, to the main point - you're pretending to be a foreign developer but your use of English is too good - your punctuation is excellent and your grammar is too good. So, be a good troll and go home.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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What's this? I'm not Kyle. I think you replied to the wrong post.
HiddenIdentitiy wrote:
I think you replied to the wrong post.
No, he thinks that you are troll[^. Kyle is troll. To your problem, what would you think about contacting author of that plug-in? (and now I am asking ya all)
"Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony. " - Morpheus "Real men use mspaint for writing code and notepad for designing graphics." - Anna-Jayne Metcalfe
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I'm sorry, but you're trying to pretend to be from a foreign country where hacking is legal. Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries. Now, to the main point - you're pretending to be a foreign developer but your use of English is too good - your punctuation is excellent and your grammar is too good. So, be a good troll and go home.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
while I admit to leaning towards suspecting our resident troll being at work again, in parts of the world where >90% of the installed software base is warez even if they have laws on the book they're clearly not anything more than a sop to the wto.
-- You have to explain to them [VB coders] what you mean by "typed". their first response is likely to be something like, "Of course my code is typed. Do you think i magically project it onto the screen with the power of my mind?" --- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
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while I admit to leaning towards suspecting our resident troll being at work again, in parts of the world where >90% of the installed software base is warez even if they have laws on the book they're clearly not anything more than a sop to the wto.
-- You have to explain to them [VB coders] what you mean by "typed". their first response is likely to be something like, "Of course my code is typed. Do you think i magically project it onto the screen with the power of my mind?" --- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
Yup - but this quote "a private company and in my country this job(hacking) is not illegal for foreign softwares( Softwares that produced outside of the country.)" is a bit suspect don't you think?
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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I'm sorry, but you're trying to pretend to be from a foreign country where hacking is legal. Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries. Now, to the main point - you're pretending to be a foreign developer but your use of English is too good - your punctuation is excellent and your grammar is too good. So, be a good troll and go home.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries.
Your geographical and political information is awfully limited. I think your English should be as such. English is not my native language and any one would understand it after I write a few sentences. I'm not a Kyle or troll or whatever you think. I'm just a human who encountered a problem and decided to ask help from his very favorite community since he thought it's a bit too big to solve it alone and many others are helping him kindly. Please don't be an obstacle, if you wouldn't like to help me. Thanks.
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Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries.
Your geographical and political information is awfully limited. I think your English should be as such. English is not my native language and any one would understand it after I write a few sentences. I'm not a Kyle or troll or whatever you think. I'm just a human who encountered a problem and decided to ask help from his very favorite community since he thought it's a bit too big to solve it alone and many others are helping him kindly. Please don't be an obstacle, if you wouldn't like to help me. Thanks.
OK - enlighten me as to which country you live in. I await this one with great interest.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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OK - enlighten me as to which country you live in. I await this one with great interest.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
which country you live in
Sorry. I can't. Just enough to say that it's in the east. ahem... middle east. still interested? I don't think so.
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I found a programming job in a company recently, mostly to write in c++. After two weeks something new happened. My boss asked me to hack a plug-in that is too expensive to buy in my country. They are going to sell the plug-in and if I don't do the hack, I'll probably lose my job. It is very hard to find a job opportunity where I live due to economical problems. If I don't hack the plug-in, they simply forget using or selling that. I mean, they won't buy it anyway, furthermore that company isn't able to sell it's product here due to governments prohibitions. But I understand the effort they put to produce that piece of software. I think I'm able to hack it technically, but not for this purpose(Selling other's work and effort.) What would you do, if you were in my shoes? Leave the job?:confused:
The immediate answer is 'I would refuse'. But, that's easier for me to say, than for you. You have to weigh up things like how easy it is to find a job, how well you're paid, if you can afford to be unemployed for a bit, etc. Worst case, if it was me, is I'd do it if I absolutely couldn't see a way out, keep the job and look for another. But, if I could avoid doing it, I would. I would at least approach the boss about my misgivings, and try to do it, offering alternatives to hacking it, such as writing something that fulfills the core need they are trying to get from the plugin. I'd also seriously consider a 'gee boss, I tried so hard, but the protection on this thing is really tight' approach.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ "I am working on a project that will convert a FORTRAN code to corresponding C++ code.I am not aware of FORTRAN syntax" ( spotted in the C++/CLI forum )
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Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
which country you live in
Sorry. I can't. Just enough to say that it's in the east. ahem... middle east. still interested? I don't think so.
HiddenIdentitiy wrote:
Sorry. I can't. Just enough to say that it's in the east. ahem... middle east. still interested? I don't think so
Yet again, your mastery of English betrays you. BTW - I do still want to know. I'm also intrigued to know how this is your favourite site, but you only joined today.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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What's HR? Human resource? If you are talking about Managers, I shall say they all know that. It's a private company and in my country this job(hacking) is not illegal for foreign softwares( Softwares that produced outside of the country.) No rules to bound them, at the moment, so later on, I certainly will not be asked why I did that. The whole country is full of pirated softwares.:( This is just a personal filling:sigh:. I don't like to rub something and then sell that. If I do, what's the difference between me and a thief? But at the same time I'm thinking that, by doing that the plug-in producer company is not loosing any thing. This is a special rubbing. I'm really confused.
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I'm sorry, but you're trying to pretend to be from a foreign country where hacking is legal. Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries. Now, to the main point - you're pretending to be a foreign developer but your use of English is too good - your punctuation is excellent and your grammar is too good. So, be a good troll and go home.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries
No. In Mexico hacking is not illegal since it's not even defined by the law. It's illegal to use a software without paying the licence. If the licence doesn't state that hacking is illegal, I can perfectly hack a software with no problems.
A polar bear is a bear whose coordinates has been changed in terms of sine and cosine. Quanehsti Pah Nation States
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I'm sorry, but you're trying to pretend to be from a foreign country where hacking is legal. Under international law, hacking is illegal in ALL countries. Now, to the main point - you're pretending to be a foreign developer but your use of English is too good - your punctuation is excellent and your grammar is too good. So, be a good troll and go home.
Please visit http://www.readytogiveup.com/ and do something special today. Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.