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Microsoft to Get Tough on License Dodgers
An anonymous reader writes "PC Advisor reports that Microsoft is going to start getting tough with certain small business customers. They are going to examine their small customer license database — any discrepancies and it will call you for an audit. If you refuse it will send in the BSA and the legal heavies. "
PC Advisor reports that Microsoft is going to start getting tough with certain small business customers.
They're starting with the small ones, because we all know what would happen if they started with the big ones.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Initial notice, followed by three written notices prior to any intrusive action? I'm sorry but this does not seem unreasonable nor tough to me. Anyone in the small business league at present SHOULD be adhering to any and all licensing necessary for the software they are using TO PRODUCE A PROFIT. If they aren't, well they best not try to expand beyond the term small business at any time in the future...
Flames as follows:
Ice Cream has no bones.
You know its bad when they send the Boy Scouts of America after you.
The BSA is not a government entity, nor is it part of any law enforcement. If Microsoft wants to audit you, and you tell them no, can they actually force it on you? Or is this something where you have a contractual agreement with them (for your legitimate copies of Windows) that allows them to audit you whenever they feel like it? If so, wouldn't this simply encourage people who pirate a few copies of Windows to simply pirate all of them? You can't be in violation of a contract you don't have.
You mean other than the fact that civil law around the world makes it legal to build private police forces like this to enforce copyright? That these private police forces can enter private property, seize assets that contain confidential information, and are accountable to no-one? The BSA and other copyright police forces have more power to search than the FBI. Not withstanding the obvious civil rights concerns, or the privacy concerns, copyright owners have the power to look at any computer system, any piece of source code even, that they may find interesting. Who gets to look and where they get to look is determined entirely by who has the best lawyers. In most parts of the world, the local police will happily aid in the use of force to inspect.
I'm waiting for the next upgrade to the TRIPS treaties to see whether or not copyright police forces have started demanding covert inspection rights.. making it legal for them to plant spies in your business to see if you have all the appropriate licenses or whether any of your source code is violating their IP, without the messiness of a raid. Maybe they'll ask for widespread surveillance rights too.
How we know is more important than what we know.
I work at a company that primarily uses Linux for all development.
But all boxes even those that have only Linux installed still have Windows license stickers on them.
Will the BSA give a refund? Perhaps the refund can go to a charity, like EFF?
http://www.osv.org.au/index.cgi?tid=91
One of the hoariest linux switch stories is about Ernie Ball, a company that makes guitar strings. The BSA treated them miserably and tried to make an example of them with a court case and huge publicity. Ball retaliated by switching to Linux and launched their own publicity campaign aimed right back at Microsoft.
Microsoft is between a rock and a hard place on this one. They could end up with a bunch more high profile switching-to-linux stories to contend with.
Why didn't they do this 6 months or a year back? Nope, they're waiting for Vista. Thus is an extra encouragement for people to "Get Legal" and thus get Vista and push up Vista sales numbers.
After a few months people (shareholders, analysts etc) will be looking at Vista sales and they better be selling it like crazy to support all the hype.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Nope, read your EULA. Microsoft has the right to audit at your expense at any time.
According to some reports, the BSA reportedly requires original invoices dated before notice of the audit and showing the company name exactly. Supposedly, if you change the name of the company, you have to buy a whole new set of licenses and have the original invoices to prove it.
That is one of the best reasons of all to ditch Microsoft for good.
"BTW, why is it that software is the only product where supply and demand and mass production rules don't apply? Everything else that is mass produced comes down in price, software stays the same or gets more expensive."
Lots of people don't understand the "...and demand" part. Sure, lots of us would like Adobe or Microsoft to sell software for five bucks, and perhaps many of us would only pay five bucks for the latest wares from Adobe or Microsoft. But if there is sufficient demand at a higher price, that's the price at which they will sell it.
Many folks (at least here on Slashdot) think that the ideal point on the supply/demand curve is the point where the product has the most customers. The reality is that it's at the point where the company makes the most profit. Finding this point on the curve that works for your business means understanding the market size, knowing who you want as your customer, and who you don't want as your customer.
More to the point: PhotoShop is $650. Enough people want to buy it at that price to allow Adobe to have a really nice building -- you should see their lobby! Sure, The Gimp is free. But even at free, it's not good enough for a critical mass of users. Lots of Slashdot armchair economics experts don't get this; they parrot the "supply is infinite thus value should be driven to zero" nonsense. Meanwhile, Adobe continues to do quite well selling a few bucks' worth of CDs at $650 a set, while you will have to look far and wide to find any serious designer who's foregone PhotoShop in favor of The Gimp.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
Hogwash.
The BSA is not a government or law enforcement agency. It is a commercial entity engaged on behalf of a copyright holder to perform audits of suspected license violations. Your participation with their audit is voluntary unless they have sufficient probably cause to justify a warrant, in which case they will be accompanied by a law enforcement agent. And quite frankly, there's no reason why you would want to cooperate with the BSA, even if you know your are 100% in compliance, because of the cost in your time in going through the process.
The biggest problem is going to be finding purchase records at all. Most businesses are not sufficiently organized to deal with a license audit. And, since most small businesses buy their software through multiple sources -- OEM, eCommerce, local retaillers, electronics stores, even bundled with other applications -- usually the business is forced to go back through tax records to come up with receipts and invoices. Overall, it is usually a combination of physical evidence -- invoices, credit card transactions, physical media, license keys, registration codes, email messages, etc -- that combined provide compelling, if not conclusive, evidence of legal purchase. If a company changes its name, or merges with another, there will be sufficient documentation of what has occurred that this wouldn't be a problem. An original receipt doesn't even need to show the name of the purchaser (i.e, buying MS-Office at Staples doesn't make your copy illegal just because Staples doesn't print your name on the receipt).
Remember that, at least in the US, the evidence must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If you have original media, CD-cases and CD-Keys -- all the mechanisms of Microsoft's license enforcement -- it is unlikely that a jury will find in the BSA's favor for lack of purchase records.
--- A man with a briefcase can steal more money, than any man with a gun. [Don Henley]
Sorry, but that is bull.
e nsing/qtlicensing
While they do license per developer, you can change the licensed developer.
http://www.trolltech.com/products/qt/licenses/lic
The question isn't what a jury is going to find. It is what the BSA considers acceptable to keep them from taking you to court for software piracy. They know that the enormous litigation costs means that few, if any, cases will ever see a jury.
From Proof of License in BSA Audits: