Question

1. You are the proprietor of a fledging computer graphics company in Shanghai, China. The sophisticated business application software you need for your business normally sells for 2,900 renminbi (around $350) at computer stores in Shanghai and online. But with an income of just little more than $5,000 a year, you cannot afford to buy the original graphics software for your business. An associate has told you she can get you all the software you need, and more, for only $30. Yet, you have financially strapped friends who code software for the global software companies that make the very programs you need.

1. Do your personal circumstances make it ethical for you to purchase the pirated software?
2. What would you do if you were told about a new government effort to actively punish users of pirated software?
3. Does a software company bear any responsibility for subcontracting work to low-wage markets where its finished product is unaffordable for the same coders who worked on it?

Answer 1

(a)

Purchasing pirated software is unethical as well as illegal. Being a business owner I am responsible for the growth of the company, but growing the company by cheating myself and the government is wrong. So I will be engaged in any activity that is unethical and has negative impact on the business and reputation in market.

(b)

The government has already established laws to punish the users of pirated software. At an individual level, I would ask my associate to stay away from the people who sell pirated software and not to provide such unethical or illegal suggestions. Moreover, I would warn her politely that if she contacts such people, she will be terminated on immediate effect.

(c)

The company should provide the software to the coders who work on it with an access key on trial basis of one year. The reason is that if a worker distributes the software in his/her group, the company will have to face losses. The losses will have impact on the wages of workers. Moreover, It is the right and responsibility of the company to protect its intelectual property.  People in low-wage market will use that and the company will not be able to realize the real value of the product.