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US Navy Denies Pirating Software on 550K Computers, Says It Had Bought Licenses For 38 Machines (arstechnica.com)

Posted by msmash on from the between-the-lines dept.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Navy was accused of pirating 3D software after testing a software package offered by Germany company Bitmanagement Software GmbH. The company had sued the United States of America for nearly $600 million. The U.S. Navy has now responded to the accusations, saying that though it did install the aforementioned software on "hundreds of thousands of computers within its network" without paying the German software maker for it, it did so with the consent of the software producer. Many might disagree, however. From a report on ArsTechnica: The Navy says that it could use the software on hundreds of thousands of computers with licenses for 38 machines. The Navy denied that a procurement official "acknowledged that additional licenses were necessary for it to distribute BS Contact Geo to its users." The government admitted that it had purchased 38 licenses, but "denies that the software licenses were 'limited,' as alleged by Plaintiff."

13 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. rofl by shaitand · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "The Navy denied that a procurement official "acknowledged that additional licenses were necessary for it to distribute BS Contact Geo to its users." The government admitted that it had purchased 38 licenses, but "denies that the software licenses were 'limited,' as alleged by Plaintiff.""

    Then why did they buy more than one?

    1. Re:rofl by Culture20 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Another possibility is that the Navy thought the 38 licenses were for concurrent use a la network licenses, or were restricted to specific users or hardware tokens, meaning that having the software on 550,000 machines isn't the same as being able to use it on all 550,000 machines at the same time, or by 550,000 users.

    2. Re:rofl by shaitand · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's possible but the Navy does this all kinds of things. They buy a handful of licenses that are absolutely not concurrent then roll it out in a desktop image to the thousands of machines. The Navy is big on copyright infringement. It isn't just software either, you'll find bootleg movies/music content being played to large groups in barracks all over the place.

    3. Re:rofl by kelemvor4 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Technically, as it's the Navy, they would be Marines which for some reason people forget are actually part of the Navy and not a separate branch.

      Not for almost 200 years, if this is to be believed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U...

      In 1834, the United States Marine Corps came under the Department of the Navy.[46] Historically, the Navy has had a unique relationship with the USMC, partly because they both specialize in seaborne operations. Together the Navy and Marine Corps form the Department of the Navy and report to the Secretary of the Navy. However, the Marine Corps is a distinct, separate service branch[47] with its own uniformed service chief – the Commandant of the Marine Corps, a four-star general.

    4. Re:rofl by jittles · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is not just about copyrights. It is mostly about contract law. Have you read the purchase contract or license? No? Me neither. So anything either of have to say about this matter is pointless and meaningless.

      We can, however, reasonably speculate whether the Navy's claims are plausible.

      And as software developers, we can take this as a warning to make our contracts extra clear when dealing with the Navy.

      Maybe the Navy is arguing that they had 38 seats that could be active at one time. Maybe they installed the software on 550k machines but only had 38 active users at a time? I don't know why they would install the software on so many machines, but who knows? Without the contract and an understanding of the software, we can only speculate.

    5. Re:rofl by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or they're creating one huge standardized install image containing all software which could conceivably be needed, and installing it on all their computers to simplify IT administration. Mainly to eliminate the need for someone to have to dig through the basement of a warehouse or run to the store to find an install disk when they suddenly find out they need a program and it isn't on the computer - kinda important when you're in the middle of the Pacific ocean. And they only paid for 38 licenses because that's how many computers they're actually planning to use it on at this time.

  2. Was anybody actually using the software? by CajunArson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Copying the software to those machines might be a technical violation of the license, but was there any evidence that those unlicensed copies were ever actually used?

    Otherwise, this is more of a theoretical violation as opposed to showing that the Navy was using software that it just didn't want to pay for.

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
    1. Re:Was anybody actually using the software? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You've never read a site license.

      Don't feel too bad; nobody has except the DoD lawyers. Yes, I had to wait 2 months for legal to finish reading a license to let me buy a $12 piece of software.

      And yes, nobody really cared that I spent $3K in lawyer time for a $12 piece of software.

  3. Contract Law 101 by paiute · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't sue parties armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

    --
    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  4. We didn't! by MarcoPon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Never underestimate the negotiating potential of a fully armed aircraft carrier. Or more than one.

    --

    SeqBox
  5. Re:Concurrent users vs installations by BenJeremy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yeah, when deployed, seats cannot be pinging the internet over a ship's intranet (and the severely limited internet connection), it's seen as a security threat, and from my own experience working on the NMCI contract, vendors WILL hear about it.

  6. Arr matey by mu51c10rd · · Score: 5, Funny

    The US Navy are pirates? Can't wait for the new whites and blues to be issues with eye patches...

  7. Re:What license? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A proprietary license written specifically for that project, since the plaintiff indicated that there were terms specific to the project that the Navy is in breach of. For instance, the license stipulates that the Navy agrees to keep some tracking functionality in place, presumably so that the company could track the number of installations during the trial phase in order to ensure that the Navy didn't engage in any shenanigans. After installing the software hundreds of thousands of times, the Navy disabled that functionality without having first negotiated a new contract that allowed them to do so, so the number of installations may actually be far higher than the 550K number that the plaintiff is aware of.