If they show up, tell reception not to let them past the waiting room. Call the cops IMMEDIATELY if they won't follow your instructions or requests (your business is private property.) Fetch the highest person in the company, preferably an officer, and tell them the BSA has no legal ability to search without a warrant or court order (which requires a lawsuit) and they need to shoo them away. The BSA should get nothing but the phone number of your lawyer.

Wrong answer. What will happen in about 4 hours, give or take, is armed US Marshalls arrive at your door with a search warrant. They will proceed to remove every single computer and you probably will never get them back. I'm lazy but do some googling - a linux shop did exactly what you recommended and the company was destroyed by seizure of their computers a few hours later.

Another tidbit of advice given was to write up a document which essentially held them hostage in return for your reputation: you agree not to report their use of illegitimate software in return for you never being there.

How is this not criminal blackmail? I'm not being snarky, I've always wondered.

All you proved with your anecdote is that you believe in America. I have no problem with that.

I *don't* believe in America.

I think America is run not by the people but by oligarchs. Nothing short of civil war from the people will change that.

Furthermore I have no idea how I would react/act/behave if such a thing came to pass, so yes, I am fully aware of the implications of including myself in my statements about "Americans."

Interesting. Most of the credit unions I've checked out here in the Bay Area are members of a consortioum of CUs and none of them charge to use out of network ATMs or each other's ATMs (hence the consortium) and many of them rebate ATM fees charged by the owner of the ATM. My partner and I are about to make the switch to a CU for all the same reasons on the table.

Everyone is saying this and it really does make sense. Except. I don't trust the American system to fix this once the "sky is falling" danger is passed. I really don't.

Jury Nullification. You are under no legal order to render your personal verdict using a certain set of facts. Life experience cannot be erased from one's memory and those experience I guarantee have not been subject to the rigors of a cross-examination.

Yup - I remember my days in the deep south. Our electric bill in San Francisco never goes above $100 and that's during the winter when we have to turn on the baseboard heaters in the morning. Summertime my bill barely breaks $30, but with the 2 computers it was about $60.

My power bill went down noticeably when I turned off 2 old computers that were running 24/7 for tasks like you describe. Those old 350 watt power supplies are expensive to run 24/7 compared to a netbook-type device.

Educate me on how you can sign an NDA with a granularity that excludes your direct supervisor from learning something you know?