License Grant Discussion at AdamsDrafting
Ken Adams has a great discussion going on over at his blog, AdamsDrafting on license grant language. Ken’s general concern is that a license grant is overly complex language, redudant at best and confusing at worst. This follows his general feelings regarding contract language (that we need to simplify and get rid of anachronisms). And, [...]
Microsoft Equipt
Back in April, we started talking about Microsoft converting home users to a SaaS model, originally code-named Albany. Today it happened. Microsoft has finally released a subscription version of Office. That’s right. $69.99**/year allows up to three home-use computers (the same as the regular version of Home and Student) the ability to use this new [...]
When licensing goes kaflooie
I believe in technology licensing… I really do. I also believe that we’re going to eventually need an overhaul of our intellectual property system on a global scale. Why, you ask? Simple. The Licensing Handbook Blog is the companion site to the Software Licensing Handbook. Covering licensing topics on a regular basis, Jeffrey Gordon attempts [...]
Microsoft trying to convert you from perpetual to SaaS
Well, as I predicted years before I started writing this blog, Microsoft is now trying to convert the average home user from a perpetual software license model to “software as a service” (Saas). My knee-jerk reaction is that this isn’t going to be good for the average (any) user – business or consumer. But let’s [...]
Software Licensing Trends from Techknowledgyblog
Steve Cosentino has a decent list of software licensing trends posted on yesterday’s Techknowledgyblog http://techknowledgyblog.squarespace.com/techknowledgy-blog/2008/2/22/software-licensing-trends.html It’s rare that an attorney in this space actually knows what he’s talking about – but Steve seems to know his stuff (ie: I agree with his position). The Licensing Handbook Blog is the companion site to the Software Licensing [...]
Two-Top Tuesday
Thanks to Apple’s press release yesterday regarding iPhone unlocking tools and the iPhone’s warranty and license agreements, you get a special second-post (I’m also still feeling guilty about last week). “CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to [...]
Copyright, the iPhone and You
The new iPods were released on Wednesday, along with a drop in the price of the iPhone – and Steve Jobs then announced a little tweak to allow an individual to “buy” a song solely for the creation of a custom ringtone. He was excited that you’d pay $.99 for the song and then $.99 [...]
Letters of Intent
When was the last time that someone referred to you as the Order Prevention Department? Business folks tend to think that a contracts staff is only there to stop them from getting their next purchase. We know better, of course, but it doesn’t change the fact that we are constantly having to show value and [...]
Take this EULA… and shove it!
[Note: The following is an article written for Soft*Letter early this year. I got a few calls about EULAs the other day, and like NDA's, I felt they deserved a shout out. The article is a bit long and does cover some topics already discussed - the advice given herein is specifically for EULAs and [...]
Demo/Eval Agreements
Almost every large software purchase is predicated on the ability of the end user to review the product. When you’re buying something of that magnitude, it’s not unreasonable to have that testing time. But vendors don’t just deposit software at even their most favorite customer’s facility without assurance that the software is going to have [...]
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