[P1] OT: Software Licensing

[david]

On Wednesday, July 9, 2003, at 08:12  PM, Charles Martin wrote:

>> From: david <davidwb at spymac.com>
>>
>> Well, I labeled this offtopic but it isn't entirely. I've come across 
>> a
>> situation that has me ticked off and started me thinking...
>>
>> Monday I installed Canvas 9 on a client's computer and realized it 
>> now uses
>> a form of serial number activation system similar to Microsoft's. Once
>> installed on a computer, that serial number is no longer any good.
>
> I think you'll find this statement to be untrue. If you try installing 
> Canvas on a computer that is not connected to the net or to a network, 
> I believe it will install just fine.

Until the computer is connected to the network again and the program 
run. Then it is deactivated. Hardly an acceptable solution in today's 
modern world.

>
>>  Now I've
>> been a Canvas user myself since version 3 so I wondered how Deneba 
>> (now ACD
>> Systems) was going to deal with notebook/desktop owners.
>>
> I'm a little confused by your mention of a client's computer in your 
> story. Are you telling us that you installed YOUR copy of Canvas on a 
> client's computer, or THEIR copy? If you installed YOUR copy of Canvas 
> on a client's computer, I don't think you have much to complain about, 
> as that's clearly piracy. If you're telling us you installed THEIR 
> copy of Canvas on their laptop, and now they want to use it on their 
> desktop and believe that they cannot, please see above for a 
> "workaround."

Neither. I recommended Canvas to the client years ago because I was a 
satisfied client. For my client it isn't an issue - he'll buy 4 more 
copies for his computers if he is happy with the upgrade. (Unless I can 
convince him to select a more enlightened software vendor) However, 
having seen the copy protection scheme I decided to test it out on a 
second computer in his shop to fulfill my own curiosity. Having seen 
the scheme at work I wanted to know how Canvas would deal with 
laptop/desktop combinations.

>
>> I've owned PowerBooks since the day Apple released the PB 140 and most
>> software vendors quickly adapted their licenses allowing notebook 
>> owners to
>> install the software on both a desktop and a notebook.
>
> A quick review of my software licenses shows that this is not really 
> the case. *Apple* has often allowed users to copy their software on 
> one desktop and one laptop, but this has changed with the release of 
> OS X (or possibly earlier), and in any event they appear to be the 
> enlightened exception rather than the rule. I looked at my software 
> licenses for my full suite of graphic-design software (all the usual 
> Adobe, Quark and Apple suspects) and could not find even ONE license 
> that allowed me to install the same software on more than one 
> computer. I didn't look but I believe my FONT software allows me to 
> keep a set on one desktop and one laptop, but that's about it.

This is the case of Quark of course, they'd make us pay for a special 
Quark only keyboard if they could get away with it. Of the Adobe suite, 
until OS X I hadn't upgraded my own computer for years so I can't speak 
about more recent versions but I am quite certain that Illustrator 3 
did allow notebook/desktop installations. I'm also certain that 
SuperPaint and Pagemaker when it was an Aldus product did too. So did 
Word Perfect - including WordPerfect Works. The list used to be quite 
long. One of the reasons I'm aware of it is because I used to have 
several law offices as clients and they were sticklers for being legal 
and cheap!


=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Good qualities are easier to destroy than bad ones, and therefore
uniformity is most easily achieved by lowering all standards.
  ~~ Bertrand Russell

David