Conference 7.286::digital

    If your organization requires VP approval for the purchase of BTS
    software, then get the approval or don't get the software. Your
    organization has decided that this is a good use of the time of
    yourself and your managers all the way up to the VP. Using the employee
    expense reimbursement for this purpose is expressly forbidden.

    You are no doubt puzzled that a supposedly high-tech,
    employee-empowered, open-systems-kinda company like Digital would have
    a policy like this. Me too. I just hope that our customers don't find
    out; it makes our claims of doing "open client-server" for 35 years
    sound a little, ahem, disingenuous.

      <<< Note 2776.1 by SWAM2::MCCARTHY_LA "I know! Let's reorganize!" >>>
    
    
      >        -< You can't do that. See elsewhere for flames. >-
    
    		   Larry, where else can I look for flames?
    
    		   I'm getting ready to order CorelDraw myself
                   for the office (I'm a graphic artist) and I
    	           thought I could take advantage of the $99.00
    		   employee special.
    
    		   Jodi-

    
    i think the special employee price is for software for personal use.
    they encourage people to know the software hoping they would cash in
    when they get the orders for companies.
    
    not sure so check. 
     

When I worked for another Fortune 100 company we had to find a way to buy
small calculators for each of us on a proposal-writing team. I took a
couple of fictional interplant trips, vouchered the milage, and bought
the stuff that we needed. My boss was fully aware of what was going on.
In fact, he helped me choose the calculators and manipulate the voucher
so that we'd get enough money.

This was 20 years ago in a very bureaucratic company... so nothing
changes.

More than forty years ago Grace Hopper said, get the job done and
apologize later. (I took a little license with that, but the logic
applies.)

    re .4
    
    I believe she said, "It is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask
    for permission."
    
    Marv
    

    re .4
    
    How about a cubicle book case that shoewd up in a field persons cubicle
    (long time ago) after lunch with B. Case.
    
    ?

    Gee, this conference is real wishy-washy.  One minute people are
    complaining about Digital's ethics, then other people are advising
    employees to file false expense reports.
    
    To the original noter:  Please follow the exception path (even if you
    don't want to) and show your management that you really DO NEED the
    software enough to pursue it.
    
    Mark

    
    They agree I need the software..they will spend the $329.00 it
    takes to buy it...but I dont want to spend $329.00 when I can
    spend $99.00!  that is a huge diffrence and it would save DEC
    money in the long run.  
    
    There has to be a way to get it for $99.00..LEGALLY
    
    Louisa

    re. There has to be a way to get it for $99.00..LEGALLY
    
    It is up to the holder of the copyright what is LEGAL. If they sell
    the product to "individuals" at a lower price than they sell to
    "corporations" that is their choice. However, there are laws, really Acts, 
    that address price discrimination. Digital's internal problems regarding 
    purchasing are no fault of the software provider.
    
    fred deady

    It's perfectly legal for you to get it for $99.00.
    
    But only if it's for your own, personal use.
    
    As Fred says in .9 copyright owners can impose restrictions on the use
    of their material and this one appears to say "if it's for you in an
    individual and private capacity, you can buy it for $99, but if it's
    for the use in a corporate organisation then it'll cost you $299 (or
    whatever)".
    
    So if you buy for $99 and then use it on work for Digital you'll have
    got it legaaly, but used it illegally.
    
    Nick

    Keep in mind that the extra discussions and effort being made to obtain
    the software for $99 might have already caused more expense in terms of
    people's overhead than the $230 you're trying to save.

>    Keep in mind that the extra discussions and effort being made to obtain
>    the software for $99 might have already caused more expense in terms of
>    people's overhead than the $230 you're trying to save.

  But going thru proper channels will also incur a huge overhead expense, so
you can't win.
  The point is that the major cost to the vendor of software is not the cost
of the materials and distribution, but the labor of developing the software.
The reason for the huge price differential between sales for personal and
corporate use is that software bought for corporate use is likely to be used
far more, by far more people, and the vendors are trying to apportion the cost
of developing the software among the people using it. Of course the system is
not 100% fair, but that's how it works.
  As an aside, one reason why few people can afford to buy a computer that runs
VMS for personal use is that the software license cost of VMS is exorbitant com-
pared to the license cost of PC operating systems such as MS-DOS.

    Where/how do you find out about software discounts?  
    
    --Donna

tap kp7 to add it to your notebook

I don't understand how this discussion got onto the question
of whether or not the use of the employee purchased software
on a Digital-owned machine is legal.  I've bought a number of
products via various third party offers to Digital employees -
Microsoft, Borland, Lotus.  Not once have I seen anything saying
that I couldn't choose to use the software on my work machine (provided
I complied with all the other standard conditions).  I've also never
seen anything from Digital suggesting that I couldn't install 
software that I owned on their machine, so long as I wasn't violating
any laws or licenses.  

The only issue I see is whether or not it's possible or appropriate
to subvert Digital's purchasing policy, when the intent is to
save money.  

   Gary