When installing software, you'll almost always be presented with
a EULA (End User License Agreement) which
you must agree to by clicking a button before
installation can continue. It's a good idea
to know what you're agreeing to, so let's
take a look at the following key aspects
of software licenses as they relate to you,
the user.
- Coverage - Some licenses cover one computer, others one user, and still others cover larger groups of user and computer combinations.
- Pricing Structure
- The cost of adding additional users or computers to your license may
be cheaper than simply purchasing multiple copies of the same software
package.
- Rights of Use - Software licenses grant you certain rights as a user, as well as restricting certain uses of the software.
- Rights Granted to Issuer
- It is becoming more prevalent for some licenses to provide the
software company certain rights relating to software you install on
your own computer.
Coverage
If you don't have a volume or site license (covered under Pricing
Structure below), you likely have either
a single-user or a single-computer license.
A single-user license generally allows you
to install the software on more than one
computer (for example, your home computer
and your work computer), provided you're
only using one copy of the software at any
given time. Licenses for a single computer
mean that you can install the software on
one computer only.
Pricing Structure
Single-user or single-computer licenses are generally very
straightforward. However, if you plan on using a software package on
multiple computers in your organization, you may want to consider
obtaining a volume or site license.
These licenses are generally provided by
software companies as a means of making software piracy less
attractive. Generally for a resonable fee, you can obtain a 5-user
license (for example) at a cost only 150% or 200% of the price of a
single-user license.
Recently some software vendors have been
experimenting with "subscription model"
pricing for software. Essentially, you don't
own the software, but you're renting it
for a monthly or annual fee. Read the license
agreements for such software thoroughly before purchasing if possible.
First, it's important to note that although licensing agreements
declare a certain set of rights for those
who purchase and use the software, there
is currently much debate about how much
validity many of these licenses have in
light of US government laws regarding Fair
Use of copyrighted works.
A good rule of thumb is to take a look
at the rights granted and specific declarations
limiting what you can do with the software.
It's better to know beforehand what the
software publisher intended users to do
with the software, as some of them are very
aggressive in persuing violations of license
agreements.
Rights Granted to Issuer
This is an area of increasing conflict in the world of software.
Some software companies have started creating
licenses that specifically authorize them
to automatically access a user's machine
via the Internet to gather information about
software useage, automatically update software,
and so on.
Obviously, software vendors don't advertise
this language, but if you're interested
in finding out the details of current licenses
from big software vendors, check the resources
listed below.
Final Notes
So far we've focused on commercial software licenses. However,
there are a variety of software licenses
that collectively fall under the umbrella
term "Open Source". Software with the GNU
Public License, BSD License, or any one
of several alternative Open Source licenses,
is often distributed for free.
Open
Source software also provides fewer restrictions on use, as the primary
purpose of the license is to spread use of the Open Sourced
application. Open Source licensing terms are also generally easier to
understand than commercial software licenses.
Examples of
Open Source software include the Linux and BSD operating systems, the
PHP scripting language, Apache web server, and the OpenOffice suite of
productivity tools.
