The institute has a few labs. Some of these labs do blood coagulation studies using a particular brand of automated coagulometer. The instrument has an inbuilt thermal printer. It also has a display, which shows the readings but not the final test results. One has to give the print command, which results in internal calculations and out comes the result printed on a thermal paper. The company makes the coagulometer in such a way that the life of the thermal printer is less than that of the main machine. Users have to have the thermal printer replaced when it conks off. It might be accidental or deliberate - but works well commercially for the company. There is a way around this problem. One can connect the machine to a PC and transfer the data to the PC. The PC can perform the calculations using software, and then print it on paper using any commercially available printer. When the printer on our machine stopped working, the person in charge of the lab called the company engineer. I provided a spare PC that we had. Then I went away to do some work. I suddenly had a thought and rushed back. By then the engineer was halfway through the installation of the software.
"Excuse me" I said, "is this your company's software?"
"Yes" he said.
"But then why did you not give it to us with the machine?" I asked.
"We give it only on request of the user" he said.
"So now you will give us a CD or DVD with a license to use it."
"I can write it on a CD" he said dubiously. My suspicions got stronger.
"Which software is it?" I asked.
"MatLab" he said nonchalantly.
"That costs a lot of money" I said. "How do you afford to give it free?"
He seemed surprised that I knew MatLab and its price too.
"We have our copy and a CD key. We will give it to you" he said. He seemed to miss the point of software piracy totally.
"Please ask your Boss if he will give a license for it" I said. He called his Boss.
"We cannot give you a license" he announced after the call. "We will install it on your machine for you."
"So we hang for software piracy, huh?" I said. "No, thank you. Please uninstall it and do not ever put it on our system."
He uninstalled it and went away. A few months passed by. One day I was working in my office, when our institute's engineer came to see me.
"I have come to check your coagulometer" he said. "The company engineer is here too. Your PC needs more RAM - it is not taking the software. It is stuck at 86% installation."
That sounded dangerous. I had a feeling of impending doom. I called the person in charge of the lab and the company engineer and asked them "what software are you installing on our PC?"
"MatLab" he said as nonchalantly as the previous engineer.
"That costs Rs. 18000/-" I said. "I had told you not to install its pirated copy on our system" I said to the lab person.
"But all the other labs have got him to put it on their systems" she said.
"OK" I said. "We shall put it if you make an affidavit taking all responsibility of the piracy, indemnifying me totally. Will you do it?"
"No" she said.
"Oh, so I have to hang for what you do, huh? No, thank you. Get the installation removed, and put the PC in my office, where you cannot attempt to install pirated MatLab a third time."
When they all went away, I silently thanked the 128 MB RAM that was running our PC for saving me from this act of piracy. People are unhappy when they have less RAM. I was ecstatic that we had only 128 MB RAM.
"Excuse me" I said, "is this your company's software?"
"Yes" he said.
"But then why did you not give it to us with the machine?" I asked.
"We give it only on request of the user" he said.
"So now you will give us a CD or DVD with a license to use it."
"I can write it on a CD" he said dubiously. My suspicions got stronger.
"Which software is it?" I asked.
"MatLab" he said nonchalantly.
"That costs a lot of money" I said. "How do you afford to give it free?"
He seemed surprised that I knew MatLab and its price too.
"We have our copy and a CD key. We will give it to you" he said. He seemed to miss the point of software piracy totally.
"Please ask your Boss if he will give a license for it" I said. He called his Boss.
"We cannot give you a license" he announced after the call. "We will install it on your machine for you."
"So we hang for software piracy, huh?" I said. "No, thank you. Please uninstall it and do not ever put it on our system."
He uninstalled it and went away. A few months passed by. One day I was working in my office, when our institute's engineer came to see me.
"I have come to check your coagulometer" he said. "The company engineer is here too. Your PC needs more RAM - it is not taking the software. It is stuck at 86% installation."
That sounded dangerous. I had a feeling of impending doom. I called the person in charge of the lab and the company engineer and asked them "what software are you installing on our PC?"
"MatLab" he said as nonchalantly as the previous engineer.
"That costs Rs. 18000/-" I said. "I had told you not to install its pirated copy on our system" I said to the lab person.
"But all the other labs have got him to put it on their systems" she said.
"OK" I said. "We shall put it if you make an affidavit taking all responsibility of the piracy, indemnifying me totally. Will you do it?"
"No" she said.
"Oh, so I have to hang for what you do, huh? No, thank you. Get the installation removed, and put the PC in my office, where you cannot attempt to install pirated MatLab a third time."
When they all went away, I silently thanked the 128 MB RAM that was running our PC for saving me from this act of piracy. People are unhappy when they have less RAM. I was ecstatic that we had only 128 MB RAM.
