Crazy and Heck Software Lisences

[Bob Maxey]

In answering another thread, I came across this and I want to pose a question or three:

"Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 is licensed only for non-commercial use by households. It cannot be used for any commercial, nonprofit, or revenue-generating activities, by schools or academic institutions, or by any government organization."

I never really thought about the possible differences between Student Editions and editions for us grown ups.

So apparently, if you write a sales letter, copy for your eBay posts or the Great American Novel using MS Office Student Edition, you are in violation, shame on you, you you dastardly crook. And forget using it to write church bulletins because they mention non-profit use, too.

So what about other licensing issues have you discovered that seem unreasonable (if they actually are unreasonable) or silly.

I remember in the MS clip art collection, you were not allowed to use clip art for anything Microsoft Corporation thought was inappropriate. Which begs the question, is it a bad idea for users to click yes and agree to a seriously open ended contract? MS Prudes might think the naked wimmen pictures made using Casaba melons from the "Fruit" category is just wrong and sue you or something like being inappropriate in their opinion.

Any good examples of screwy restrictions, rules and the like?

 

[mikedt]

My favourite is the Apple iTunes EULA.

"...including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear missiles or chemical or biological weapons.

The Apple software is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, life support machines, or other equipment in which the failure of the Apple software could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage."

 

[Hadron]

To be fair I always assumed that one was an Easter egg.

 

[Speed Daemon]

My favourite is the Apple iTunes EULA.

"...including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear missiles or chemical or biological weapons.

The Apple software is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, life support machines, or other equipment in which the failure of the Apple software could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage."

The sad thing is that a litigious company like Apple probably put it there out of fear of revenge suits.

A long time ago the consensus in the IT industry was that the massive Microsoft-style EULAs were impossible to enforce. We were advised to never read any of the EULA, just in case for plausible deniability. OTOH I don't condone using student/home software at work. If you really need MS products, pay up. Otherwise, take advantage of the FOSS out there, and use the money you saved to contribute to a few of the FOSS projects.