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Microsoft To Issue Blanket License To NGOs

Posted by Soulskill on from the making-it-better dept.

itwbennett writes "Following a recent report that Russian police have used software copyright raids to seize computers of activist groups, Microsoft announced it will issue a blanket software license to nonprofit groups and journalist groups outside the US. The new blanket license should remove software piracy as an excuse for 'nefarious actions' by enforcement authorities, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith wrote. The new license 'cuts in one swoop the Gordian knot that otherwise is getting in the way of our desired handling of these legal issues,' he said. 'The law in Russia (and many other countries) requires that one must provide truthful information about the facts in response to a subpoena or other judicial process. With this new software license, we effectively change the factual situation at hand. Now our information will fully exonerate any qualifying [nonprofit], by showing that it has a valid license to our software.'"

3 of 255 comments (clear)

  1. It's a trap by wampus · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Well, inb4 it's a trap anyway.

  2. It works for them... by Penguinisto · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I suspect that come next quarter, Microsoft will happily re-interpret this as a massive increase in "sales" of it's Windows 7 licenses, thereby giving its marketing department (and shill squadrons) something to crow about.

    It also gives them a means to crow about how they 'cracked down' on piracy, and etc.

    (to top that off, I'm sure there's a massive tax write-off in there somewhere as well).

    All in all, doing this looks like the best solution for 'em.

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  3. Linux and BSD ... by Skapare · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ... need to do the same. Oh wait, they already have.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars