How can one explain software licensing regulations and requirements?

October 24, 2008 7:03 AM

What can I use in explaining to my boss how software licensing regulations work? My boss seems to think that we can just borrow software from another department and use it for a project that we need to deploy.

I know this is not ethical and I am pretty sure it is illegal, but I am almost certain that my boss does not understand this. My boss is not a computer savvy person and I am pretty sure that he does not understand how these things work. I want to be able to cite a law or something official that will help me convey why we cannot do this, how they catch people who do this (systems and software licensing audits) and what the penalties are when a corporation is caught doing this. What information is out there that will help me in this endeavor?

posted by anonymous to technology (16 comments total)

It really depends on the license in question. Under some licenses, it might not be illegal to borrow software from another department, if they weren't using it themselves at the time.

So the best place to go is the license itself. Find it, and then you can find the parts that prohibit (or allow) these actions.
posted by grouse at 7:12 AM on October 24, 2008

If he's anything like my boss/clients, who zone out after a sentence or two, you might need to give them something short and sweet, with links to click on if they want more info.

For example, from the WiseGeek site:

"Most notably, software licensing protects the copyright by placing restrictions on the end user in relation to the product. Duplication for purposes other than backup, installation on more than one computer, editing the code, or changing the program in any way is usually forbidden."

Then a link.

Add info for how illegal software use is caught, and the penalties for such, and you should be good. Like grouse said, a lot depends on the license itself, so check there first.

I feel your pain - I can't tell you the number of times I've encountered this mindset. "Well, we have this copy of X that we bought over at OfficeMax, can you install it on these five additional PCs?"
posted by HopperFan at 7:32 AM on October 24, 2008

Can you setup a conference call with you, him, and a representative from whatever company you are licensing the software from? I'm sure they would be happy to explain to him what is and isn't allowed under your agreement.

Also, in my experience most people who want to do those sorts of things do know about licensing restrictions and ignore them in order to save money.
posted by burnmp3s at 7:43 AM on October 24, 2008

Can you setup a conference call with you, him, and a representative from whatever company you are licensing the software from? I'm sure they would be happy to explain to him what is and isn't allowed under your agreement.

That sounds like a career-limiting move.
posted by grouse at 7:45 AM on October 24, 2008

Your company bought a vehicle that can go really great places and see all sorts of things. It's a single person occupancy. Nobody will be able to go anywhere if you cram two people in it and try to start it up. It was designed for one. Its not fair to the car designer and everybody else on the road who made and paid for their seats.
posted by iamkimiam at 7:59 AM on October 24, 2008

Truly, it is about the licensing contracts that the company or institution has agreed to. For all you know you have an unlimited site license which is not uncommon for both small and very large firms selling or buying. Your firm may also have network, concurrent or per seat licenses for various software which again may or may not mean your boss's borrowing of software from another dept. would necessarily be violating.

Heck, plenty of software has "narcing" capabilities so an install may, quite frankly, fail because that piece of software or license has already been registered e.g., Final Draft.

Also, I am assuming that this is not enterprise level software, like a database which believe me the renewal license folks monitor closely to be sure the next round of licensing is reflective of use.

I agree with Grouse that sitting down with a licensing agent and the boss would be REAL career limiting.

The only real unassailable licensing I have ever encountered is GSA in which the Federal Govt. gets the lowest price on any piece of software with the only exceptions being Education licenses or special arrangement contracts. The govt. does audits and if they find that you have given a sweeter deal to someone outside of exception/education you have to give them the difference on the money they have paid to you. But this binds sellers and not end license users like you.

It is hard to give you advice about licensing because we do not know the particulars or the software because each vendor has their own license/pricing structures.

Is the software that he is contemplating have a 30 day trial? If so, just load the 30 day and then you can feel better and the boss has not done the "naughty". Maybe you can even convince him/her that you should invest in it and even better version.
posted by jadepearl at 8:08 AM on October 24, 2008

There are a lot of different ways software can be licensed, so without you reading the licenses yourself, you can't explain it to your boss, or even understand it yourself.

Some forms of licensing I've seen:
- Install and use on one computer
- Install and use on one computer at a time (so you can move it to a different one if you delete on the old one)
- Use on one computer at a time
- Install on one desktop and one laptop
- Install on up to 5 computers
- Run on any computer you happen to be sitting at
- Run up to ten instances simultaneously (this is used in an office, and requires a license server)
- Do the right thing and don't be a jerk
- Various open-source and free-ish licenses, any of which would permit unlimited installs

For all you know, that other department has a few serial numbers they've never bothered to install, and you'd be entirely within the rules to use them.
posted by adamrice at 8:13 AM on October 24, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, and this may be nit picky, but what you're describing isn't really "illegal." If it's anything, it's a breach of contract... and breaching contracts is really more at your bosses pay grade than yours.

Once you've done your homework and determined what you're actually allowed to do under the license you have, you can explain that to your boss but after that it's really out of your hands.

If your boss decides he wants to violate the license agreements, he's making a conscious decision to risk a huge cost later to avoid paying a small cost now... maybe a bad business decision, but that's about the extent of it.
posted by toomuchpete at 8:26 AM on October 24, 2008

I agree with Grouse that sitting down with a licensing agent and the boss would be REAL career limiting.

Yeah I should have mentioned that going to IT in your own company would be better than going to the vendor directly, and to only involve someone else if the boss thinks its a good idea. My point was that you might want to get an expert on the license agreement to weigh in rather than trying to figure it out on your own.

For what it's worth I've been on conference calls with my bosses and other business people to talk to outside vendors about licensing, and didn't have any problems.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:27 AM on October 24, 2008

Point him to the SBA.

Who, by the way, get the majority of their tips from current and former disgruntled employees.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:34 AM on October 24, 2008

Similar to a few people here, it's your boss' decision. Learn and explain it to them (be sure to spell it out in an email too, just for a paper trail's sake), but once you do that it's none of your business anymore. And yeah, pointing out that BSA audits are usually triggered from inside the company might be helpful, but be sure to couch is such that you aren't illustrating yourself as a potentially disgruntled employee.
posted by rhizome at 8:49 AM on October 24, 2008

Also keep in mind if it is some sort of software that requires licensing and the current agreement doesn't cover your department, since another group is already using this software it should be vetted/approved by your IT group already and your purchasing group should be familiar with it. I'd recommend first trying to figure out if you need to buy/license another copy as the above posters have said, and if you do, talk to the person in the other group who got this software approved and purchased. Depending on the size of your company and the enterprise-level bureaucracy involved, YMMV, but at least in my experience, once one person gets the OK to have a certain piece of software installed, it's much easier for other people to get it.
posted by reptile at 10:10 AM on October 24, 2008

It is your bosses decision, but you should appeal to their most common instinct: fear. "Look, we could get in a shedload of trouble if a disgruntled employee calls the BSA or similar; they offer rewards for people who report piracy."
posted by baggers at 10:13 AM on October 24, 2008

I would be exceedingly careful about bringing up the "disgruntled employee" thing directly... no matter what terms you couch it in, this will sound like a threat (maybe a thinly veiled one) and if someone DOES turn in the company to the BSA, you're going to be the first suspect.

Your best bet, if you really want to get this point across, is to find a link that addresses it clearly, but as a secondary (or tertiary) point.

If the company ever does get in trouble for this software licensing stuff, you're already a suspect... taking extra effort to mention disgruntled employees is going to make you sound like one.
posted by toomuchpete at 10:42 AM on October 24, 2008

If he won't understand it on legal or ethical terms, and won't respond to an analogy ("What if our customers did the same thing with what we produce? We'd be out of business pretty damn fast.") then I 3rd pointing him to the Business Software Alliance web site. The big graphic on the front page offering $1,000,000 reward for people to snitch on their bosses should get his attention.

And of course do this diplomatically so he doesn't think it's blackmail. Or go anonymous.

If you don't want to scare him, just want to inform him and wash your hands of it, you can send him to some of the less scary and more helpful links on the site, like here.
posted by Ookseer at 12:21 PM on October 24, 2008

Does your company have a legal department? Let them and the IT department get your boss up to speed.
posted by matildaben at 4:37 PM on October 24, 2008