I found the article interesting, but I also reserve my opinion of the company or its executives. I heard something a long time ago about "innocent until proven guilty". It sounded nice enough so I thought I'd adopt it as a philosophy. I am hoping the rest of America- especially the press and the legal system- soon start to follow this philosophy.

Sadly, it is not the law enforcement or software police that get you though. It is usually a whistle blower that the company has pissed off. The whistle blower had no moral or ethical qualms about using the software as long as he was benefiting from it. Once that person is disgruntled or gets fired though they think its an easy way to retaliate against the company by turning them in. The whistle blower is just as guilty for installing and using the software and should probably be included in any punitive actions.

The source of these allegations and most of the bad press are ex-employees or disgruntled employees so their views may be biased. That said, I think way more companies than care to admit it have software in use that they are fully aware is not licensed.

We'll see how this plays out, but I think more people need to read both sides of the story and assume the truth is somewhere in the middle. If a surprise audit were conducted at most companies I think you would find illegal software installed. Have you not installed shareware without paying for it (how many of you have cut a check for Winzip?)? Have you changed your system date to use trial software longer than allowed? Have you copied software from a friend? Have you bought one copy of a game or application and installed it on more than one computer in your home?

I am not implying that everyone else's guilt makes Foundstone less guilty if they are in fact doing what they are accused of doing. I'm just saying there is an awful lot of stone-throwing going on for such a fragile glass house.

I don't want the chat to turn into an interrogation or a roasting session, but George Kurtz and Stuart McClure will be on my site from 8pm to 10pm tonight. I would like to keep things civil and focused on the books or information security in general though and not on Foundstone's legal woes.