I’ve seen several thread here about various ethical dilemas people face, and I generally consider myself an ethical person, but then I caught myself doing this thing again.
I got a free trial version of a Well Known Anti-virus program years ago. (I go to computer trade shows and get lots of such goodies.) It entitled me to 1 free year of updates. So I used it, the year is up (long ago) and I’m still using it.
Anti-virus programs, to remain effective, have to be periodically updated, both the program and the virus definition file. The former is still 100% okay to update, the latter is the one that was supposed to have expired. Except it hasn’t. I click the update button, it tells me it expired, asks if I want to know more, yadda-yadda-yadda, a few screens later it suddenly starts downloading the new virus defs. And I hadn’t even okayed it doing that, much less asked it.
I haven’t “cracked” the program or otherwise tried to fake it out. It just seems to be a flaw in the program checking for expiration.
Is this ethically wrong? I keep assuming that eventually one of the program updates will fix this problem and that will be that, but not yet. It’s possible they might even know about the error in this trial version and let it slide as customer goodwill to people in the industry.
The question is: "Is it wrong to keep updating (even though I’m not supposed to be able to do so but can) since they screwed up? And if so, how wrong is this? Scale of 1 to 10 (10 being genocide in the name of God).
Note, I still can get hold of new, free demos of the same program. It’s a pain to install and all. “This is just so much easier.” (The motto of the moderately damned.)
Let’s see, somebody else has made a mistake (releasing bad code in license check functin, apparently). You benefit from this mistake. You understand that you are not entitled to the benefit, yet you continue to take advantage of their mistake.
No, I don’t think it is ethical. Now, it’s not unethical on the “bathe in the blood of slaughtered virgins” or “put doe-eyed elf figures on every conceivable household item” scale, but “sweating the small stuff” is the heart of ethics. I think you are obligated to report the error to the manufacturers. Offer them the opportunity to send you a demo version which works properly. Now, if they choose not to do so, I would consider it ethical to continue downloading updates. At that point, both parties are aware of the specifics of the transaction.
I am in essentially the same situation with my anti-virus program. My subscription ended long ago, yet I continue to be permitted to download virus definition files.
I assumed that the reason this is being allowed to happen is that I use Win95. The company no longer officially supports that opperating system with their newest anti-virus program. So, as a gesture of good will they still let you download the definitions.
Regardless, it never dawned on me that what I am doing might be unethical. The company in question is one of the world leaders in computer security issues. I have no doubt that they know exactly what’s going on.