May 21, 2009
Independent trainers and courseware providers argue licensing changes are putting them out of business. Why enterprises should read user licences carefully
End User Licensing Agreements (EULAs) have always been “sketchy,” according to Info-Tech Research Group Inc. lead analyst Darin Stahl. “If people read the EULA in every piece of software they install, it would scare them to death.”
Early editions of Microsoft Corp.’s Studio Visual Basic development tools, for example, suggested that anything end users created became the property of Microsoft because it was a derivative of their tools.
“If I’m an enterprise and I’m developing something that’s new, unique and startling in the hydrogen fuel space, all of a sudden I have Microsoft as an (intellectual property) party,” he said.
Past licences from strong niche players in the financial services industry that control large administration systems have also made Stahl “choke.” Changes to screens, source code used to run in compile code, any derivative works used internally became their property, he said. The licence agreements also stipulated backing up all code to tape and sending it to them on an annual basis.
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Tags: Crystal Reports, info-tech research, info-tech research group, New Horisons Worldwide Inc., Studio Visual Basic
