Thrown in Jail 3

[basement131]

Here is the issue.
i am looking at purchasing a program which costs $2000 per user and we have 7 users doing the math that equals $14000. Now here is the issue. THis program is used by all 7 of us but not very often. So it would be rare that we would all need it at the same time, but we would like to run it on our own computers.

Is it legal to have 1 copy with 1 licence on a server computer and each individual access the program through the network this would cost significantly less ~$4000.00. It would seem like this would be legal as only 1 person can use this program at a time.

someone has informed me that that is illegal and i will be thrown in jail.

unlike the person i talked to i would appreciate and informed opinion on this issue.


sincerely
Officework13

 

[rasETL]

How "sophisticated" is this software?

I know some software can be purchased that controls the number of users automatically.

Example - you purchase 2 "seats". If a 3rd user tries to log on, they are denied access with a message that the maximum number of users are currently logged in.

You should check and see if you can purchase that type of arrangement.

Hope that helps.

 

[alexhu]

Is it legal to have 1 copy with 1 licence on a server computer "

Only the vendor can tell you that

Microsoft do this with Office via Citrix - the licensing scheme is different to having it on individual PCs

Alex

 

[sleipnir214]

I doubt you'd go to jail for a few user licenses. For something that small, you're generally looking at fines.



But the number of licenses you need depends on the license under which the software is distributed. Some software is licensed according to number of concurrent users, some software is licensed according to number of installations. The vendor can give you licensing information

But considering that few, if any, of us are lawyers, I recommend that you seek the advice of a legal professional.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[SQLSister]

If you talk to the sales rep for thecompany and explainthat you can't pay $14,000 and won't purchase the product unless you can get get a liscence that allows you have the program onthe network for multiple people to use at differnt times, they might come up with a special network liscencing price for you that is more than the single user and less than the 7 indidivual liscence price just to make the sale.

You could also put the product on one PC in a central location and go to it when needed. Inconvenient, yes, but it keeps it down to one liscence. Or assign all the duties related to the use of that program to one person and have that person get the liscence and provide the needed information to the other 6 as necessary.

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[MikeLacey]

Depends upon the license agreement basement131, they vary a lot.

Mike

To err is human,
but to really foul things up -
you require a man Mike.

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884

 

[chiph]

Yup. Read the license agreement.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[basement131]

i contacted the vendor (ACL) & they said that 1 of 2 things would work. purchase 1 licence to put the software on the server & only 1 person can access it at a time. the second option is to purchase 1 desktop licence. The software can be installed on all the computers however they have a USB key that you must have plugged in to run the program. Both options are the same price. It is just a little more convenient with haveing the software on the server & not having to swap the USB key.

thanks all for your posts to this thread.

 

[GwydionM]

Glad the vendors were reasonable. They do have cause for complaint - supposing you had put years of work into something and people then took the benefit without giving you anything?

I'd say it's ethically wrong to 'hack' someone else's software, even when they are being unreasonable about its use. The only exception I can see is when it's an old version which the vendor refuses to sell at any price because they'd like to force you to get the latest and most expensive version.

------------------------------
A view from the UK

 

[manarth]

The only exception I can see is when it's an old version which the vendor refuses to sell

Hmm, not sure I agree with this. After all, they spent time to develop it originally...

An exception I would find acceptable is if the vendor went out of business, and there was no way to purchase a licence.

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[TomKane]

Just on that last post - I recently heard of "Abandonware" - I looked it up and this is the description I got from

http://www.whatis.com

Abandonware is computer software (such as an operating system, word processor, interactive game, or audio file) that is no longer marketed or distributed by the company that created it, but is obtainable from some other source. Some popular products that have been at least temporarily abandoned include NeXTStep, the operating system for the NeXT computer; OpenStep, its successor; and many interactive games that were replaced by more sophisticated products. In some cases, a company or Web site gets permission from the creator to distribute the abandoned program; but sometimes they don't. To use abandonware that you download, you often need a license string that the software recognizes as entitling the user to install it. In this case, the downloading site provides a license string that is known to work.

A little bit off topic but I'd never heard this term before.

 

[monkeylizard]

Is it legal to have 1 copy with 1 licence on a server computer "

Citrix was mentioned earlier. MS does not allow one install of one license to be placed on Citrix and then be used by an unlimited number of users. If you have 50 users hitting Office on Citrix, you need 50 licenses (still just one install on Citrix of course).

Citrix/Terminal Server is not a way to work around proper licensing, it only allows for simple installation/updating of the applications.


Monkeylizard
-Isaiah 35-

 

[willir]

I am going to get shot for this -- but perhaps a work-around is to install the software on a dedicated workstation. Then give requried users access to remote control software -- when they need the software, they remote control to the dedicated workstation.

Remote control software is a heck of lot less than $2k, and the software is installed on one workstation.

I can hear the shot guns ringing in my ears as I type...

 

[Marcs41]

Here they are

What you are proposing is just as illegal.
A ONE user license is a ONE user license.
A ONE PC license, that you could get away with legally.

Marc [santa2]
_{If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all.
Free Tip: The F1 Key does NOT destroy your PC!}
Don't forget to shop @

http://www.cafepress.com/tektips

for Christmas!

 

[pmonett]

Hold it - one user is not necessarily one identified person. I would think it is more along the line of one single user at a given time.

So that does not smack of as much illegality as one might think.

Pascal.

 

[Marcs41]

Like it has been stated above several times... what counts is what is defined in THAT software as a user.
Personal perception does not count if you want to follow the rules.
A single user at a given time is called concurrent licensing, so if that is the case here, it will be mentioned as such in te agreement.

Marc [santa2]
_{If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all.
Free Tip: The F1 Key does NOT destroy your PC!}
Don't forget to shop @

http://www.cafepress.com/tektips

for Christmas!

 

[waiterm]

Are there no alternatives to the hugely expensive software that might do a similar job.

A simple example, on Amazon Office 2003 Pro = £370.99, Office 2000 Pro = £60.00

2000 does 90% of the tasks 2003 does but at 15% of the cost.

I'm guessing it's because the reason for using the software is quite specialised and you need files to be in the same version. But, it's a suggestion nonetheless.

Rob Waite

http://www.hostpipe.co.uk?src=TT

 

[willir]

I knew sone would complain about use remote software to access the licensed PC. I dont think this apporach is illegal since only one user can use the software at a time - similar to have a stand-alone desktop for a specific task except you dont have to move to the work area.

Personally, at the cost of $2k per seat, the cost is high enough where the vender should offer a licensing server -- the server has a set number of licenses which it distributes on a first-come-first-serve basis to a number of end users using the software. The users will startup their software, the application only completely loads if the application can grab a free license. Once the user has finished with their task, they close the software which frees up the license. I have several applications that use this technique. I purchase the software with 5 or 10 user license to share among 20 to 40+ users. It is one of the things I look for when deciding which application to purchase. From the sounds of it, this option is not available to you, or it is too late.

 

[Tarwn]

What's really fun is when you get a piece of software that doesn't understand hyperthreading and the company demans you buy two CPU licenses or turn it off, since the install keeps seing two (virtual) CPU's...and no, I'm not making this up, they actually told us to either buy a second license or turn off HTT...

sorry, been on a "rage against incompetence" kick lately

 

[willir]

Yea, or the software that does not understand multple user accounts on the one workstation.