engineering ethics question...

[RaWk]

So let's say you worked for a chip maker of some kind and they produced a product with certain security features that customers could take advantage of to protect their systems. Now, since you work for this company you know all about the product and you know how to overcome/alter those security features. Assuming knowing how to override those security features is proprietary information, would it be illegal to buy systems with the chip maker's product included, override the security, and sell the "cracked," if you will, product to someone else.

I mean, you aren't giving away any secrets about the product. Lemme see if I can break this down in to an example:

Let's say being able to write data onto a floppy disk was all the rage among the kiddies but all of the disks in the world came with that write protection tab locked. Now, since I work for the disk manufacturer I know that you can flip the tab and then you are able to write to the disk. Now, let's say I bought disks from the manufacturer, flipped the tabs, and sold them to the my friends, the public, whoever. (This is still assuming the public doesn't have the know how to figure out I flipped the tab).

So my questions are 1) Is this legal? 2) Does this infringe upon the manufacturer's IP rights? 3) Any other input? Just some thoughts I had...I'm interested to see what you guys think of this too..

 

[n0cmonkey]

Sounds like that engineer needs to go back to the drawing board.

 

[TNTrulez]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Sounds like that engineer needs to go back to the drawing board.

 

[bwass24]

Illegal, in a criminal sense, probably not. Could you be sued, sure. You would be using their IP (which includes the details of the security methods) for your own profit, and thus infringing. You probably also signed an agreement with the employer that says, among other things, that anything you do in an engineering sense while under their employ belongs to them.

Basically, you could get in a lot of legal trouble if you were caught. It's just not worth it, and it's highly unethical.

 

[bigboxes]

Sounds like you got your answer.

 

[Rand]

Nice answer bwass24, you pretty much covered it right there.

 

[RedShirt]

Hmm, I don't know what you are talking about here... But lets say, using your example, someone had a write-protected floppy disk, and a "unlocked" floppy disk. The person could look at the two discs and see what was done to make it writable.

The same could probably be done in your case, basically exposing it to everyone.

 

[RC7]

Your ideas are intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter

 

[PowerEngineer]

Sounds like something for "Off Topic" to me.

 

[manko]

The fact that you even have to ask this question probably means it's a bad idea.

On the other hand, knowledge needs to be free. Leak the info to some Norwegian teenagers and make the world a better place.

 

[CrazySaint]

Couldn't that also be considered a violation of the DMCA |)?

 

[ElDonAntonio]

Originally posted by: CrazySaint
Couldn't that also be considered a violation of the DMCA |)?

 

[MasterHoss]

I think your question can be answered if you read the IEEE Code of Ethics. I had to sign an agreement stating that I agreed to the ethics code my freshman year in college.

 

[Lalakai]

biggest liability issue will focus on what you did with this info. Personal use might be justified, but taking the info and selling it or making a personal gain based on use of this info would bring several conflicts into being and might make you liable from both an ethics standpoint and a legal standpoint.

bottom line; experiment on your own system if you choose but I'm fairly certain you'ld be violating several laws/employee guidelines if the info got beyond you. don't do it, is the best response.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: RaWk
So let's say you worked for a chip maker of some kind and they produced a product with certain security features that customers could take advantage of to protect their systems. Now, since you work for this company you know all about the product and you know how to overcome/alter those security features. Assuming knowing how to override those security features is proprietary information, would it be illegal to buy systems with the chip maker's product included, override the security, and sell the "cracked," if you will, product to someone else.

I mean, you aren't giving away any secrets about the product. Lemme see if I can break this down in to an example:

Let's say being able to write data onto a floppy disk was all the rage among the kiddies but all of the disks in the world came with that write protection tab locked. Now, since I work for the disk manufacturer I know that you can flip the tab and then you are able to write to the disk. Now, let's say I bought disks from the manufacturer, flipped the tabs, and sold them to the my friends, the public, whoever. (This is still assuming the public doesn't have the know how to figure out I flipped the tab).

So my questions are 1) Is this legal? 2) Does this infringe upon the manufacturer's IP rights? 3) Any other input? Just some thoughts I had...I'm interested to see what you guys think of this too..

Well, if you want to get sued for damages, lost revenue, etc., and then get charged with a DMCA violation and thrown in prison, sure, go for it. Personally, I wouldn't. (I would be more likely simply to leak the info out anonymously onto the internet-at-large, and let other people crack it. Kind of like game software, I would rather release a free crack, than buy (or just copy) and re-sell cracked versions of the game.)