[ale] OT: Well it is going to hit the list sooner or later.

[Mike Panetta]

The only problem with that I can see is your boss will never sign a letter saying that
you can spy on him.  So in effect this means its ok for higher ups to spy on and fire
lower down people for slacking off (or doing whatever) and its not ok for lower down
people to spy on and get higher up people fired for doing the same.  This is illogical
and can create a bad climate (one that already exists, how many people do you know
would be willing to rat out someone important in their company for doing something 
harmful to said company?) where stagnation and immoral and unhealty acts can be
done by higher ups (and are) and cannot be stopped or watched by anyone else.

Who watches the watchers?

Oh, and why is what he did unethical?  Why is trying to save taxpayers (or
in the case of a private company, shareholders) money by checking that
someone is doing the job they are payed (and payed very highly 
in the case of CEO's and such) to do, and not wasting money by slacking 
off.  Why is it unethical for someone lower down in the company to use
the means he has at hands (his knowledge) to check up on someone,
while its not unethical for someone higher up in the company to use the
means he has (someone elses knowledge) to check up on someone?

Basicly your saying its ok for the CEO's and other corperate bastards of
the world to get rich by slacking off and telling us what to do, but its not
ok for us to protect the company by turning them in when they waste the
companys money by slacking off and doing no real work.  I think your
sense of ethics is a bit off.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: "J.M. Taylor" <jtaylor at onlinea.com>
Sent: Aug 1, 2004 10:24 AM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
Subject: Re: [ale] OT: Well  it is going to hit the list sooner or later.


My interpretation of the SAGE code of ethics is the following: I do not
read people's emails, even tho it is within my power.  I do not spy on
people, even tho it is within my power and in many cases may prove their
misdeeds.  I do not collect data on people's misdeeds even tho these
people may be harming me on the job.  I do not make these decisions.  I
just run the server.

If it is required of me that I do these things, I ask for a signed letter
from a higher-up, or the law enforcement agency or whatever, to prove that
I was not acting on my own.  It is never right for a systems administrator
to give in to his or her baser nature and use their technical knowlege to
further a complaint against a coworker, unless s/he has been asked to do
this by a superior for legally and ethically correct reasons.

And yes, if my boss told me to gather data about someone that I knew was 
goofing off all day but wouldn't give me the signed letter, I would refuse 
to do it even if it meant my job.  That's how strongly I feel about the 
importance of my integrity in what I do.  It's also just CYA -- when the 
fit hits the shan and it's my word against my boss's about who ordered 
collecting the data....no way am I going to get involved in that.  I'm 
not completely stupid.

IMNSHO this guy isn't a saint or a martyr.  He did something
unethical, and unethical acts are unethical regardless of the motivating
reasons.  If you steal from your company and give the money to starving
people, it's still stealing.  If all he did was send emails about the
boss, maybe he should've taken the time to actually go speak to someone
face-to-face.  If he had gotten the go-ahead from a higher-up to do this,
then it would've been fine.  It sucks that the boss didn't get fired, but
ALDOT was entirely correct in firing the admin.

Jenn
</end>


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