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Are you legal?

By Donna Milici

It's 5 PM and you haven't finished your report, which is due at 9 AM tomorrow. No problem-you'll simply take the files home with you and finish everything tonight. After all, you have copies of the software applications you'll need on your home machine.

Although most people would never think of blatantly violating copyright laws by providing their friends with illegal copies of commercial software, the scenario described above is fairly typical. Many would argue that they are within their rights making copies of commercial software for home use as long as they're using the software on only one machine at a time. Is this legal? The answer is that it depends-licensing conditions vary considerably among software developers, and it is your responsibility to know the specific rules for each software application you use.

Who's watching?

One of the more noteworthy lawsuits filed by SPA was against the University of Oregon, the first higher-education institution involved in a software copyright suit. Filed on behalf of several software vendors, the federal suit alleged that University employees made unauthorized copies of software programs and training manuals. In its settlement the university agreed to pay $130,000, as well as organize and host a national conference on copyright law and software use. According to an SPA representative, the organization is currently investigating several reports of universities using unauthorized copies of computer software.

Copyright laws and ethical use

Many efforts, both local and international, are underway to increase awareness about the legal and ethical use of software among educational institutions. EDUCOM, a non-profit consortium of higher education institutions committed to the use and management of information technology, publishes a code that many colleges and universities have adopted. At Penn, several ethical use policies exist, and numerous efforts are underway to guide the University community in the ethical use of computers, software, networks, and intellectual property. Penn initiatives include:

• University of Pennsylvania Policy on Reproduction of Software (1985): The University of Pennsylvania does not condone or tolerate the illegal copying of computer software by staff, faculty, or students. It is important that the University adhere to its contractual responsibilities, that it recognize its obligations under the copyright law, and that it has paid the agreed upon prices to software vendors.
• Several schools and organizations on campus have established their own policies to supplement the University policy (e.g., the ENIAC policy posted on PennInfo under "Policies and Procedures").
• The Academic Committee of the Advisory Council to the Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing is currently drafting a statement on ethical behavior with respect to the electronic information environment, to be endorsed as University policy.
• The Office of Data Administration and Information Resource Planning is developing an information security and access policy that, among other things, will provide standards for the appropriate use of all software and information technology.
• The office of Data Communications and Computing Services has convened a working group that is developing University network policies to address access, acceptable use, security, and privacy.

What's in it for me?

• Complete documentation, including user guides, reference materials, and tutorials
• Access to support
• Notification of, and access to, bug fixes and interim releases
• Notification of product updates and possible incentives for upgrading existing versions

Adhering to license terms

• Breaking the shrink wrap on the software package or the seal on the disk envelope constitutes acceptance of the terms and conditions of the software license.
• If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you are required to return the unopened software package (manuals and disks) to the place of sale for a refund.
• The software is owned by the developer and is protected by U.S. copyright law and international treaty provisions.
• You may either make one copy of the software for backup or archival purposes or transfer the software to a single hard disk and retain the original software for backup or archive.
• Modifications to the software and decompiling of the program code require the permission of the copyright holder.
• Development of new works based upon the licensed software is not allowed without the permission of the copyright holder.

The only type of software that can be freely copied and distributed is public domain software, which comes into being when the original copyright holder explicitly relinquishes all rights to the software. Game software on public bulletin boards fall into this category.

Passing an audit

• Keep a log of all software that is purchased, and store original disks and licensing agreements in a logical order in a safe location.
• Keep invoices and receipts as proof of purchase.
• Register all software so that the publishers will have records of your purchases.
• Inventory all existing personal, office, or lab software. Include in your tally software being used from floppy disks, hard disks, network servers, and on home or portable machines.
• Use a database or other tracking mechanism to record all software inventoried. Include fields for important data such as purchase date, registration date, serial number, version number, machine(s) on which software is installed, updates, etc.
• Compare the software in the inventory against the respective licensing agreements.
• Make sure that, where required, there exists an original set of disks and documentation for all software installed on floppy disks, hard disks, and networks.
• Erase software that requires an original set of disks and manuals but for which none can be found, and purchase legitimate copies of software for all machines that are required to have them.
• Don't give away previous versions when upgrading existing software.
• Don't make duplicate copies of software for colleagues or for other machines in your office or lab unless you have a licensing agreement that specifically states that such duplication is authorized.
• Don't make duplicate copies of software for your home machine or portable computer unless the terms of your licensing agreement specify that you may.
• When providing licensed software on a server, meter its use so that you don't exceed the number of concurrent uses permitted.
• Make sure that copyrighted software in classrooms and labs is licensed, and that precautions are used to prevent illegal copying.

Software inventory tools

An ongoing project

Sidebar: License examples: terms and variations

The following excerpts describing selected commercial software licenses illustrate the variations in terms among software developers and the trend in the industry to adapt license conditions to the way people work.

Microsoft: Microsoft's licensing policy allows you to use one copy of the software on your principal computer and a second copy on a home or laptop computer in certain circumstances; i.e., if you have a Microsoft product loaded on the hard disk or other storage device of your computer and you use that computer at least 80 percent of the time it is powered up, then you may make a second copy for home or laptop use. In addition, the license sets out the rules for concurrent use on a computer network. To comply with the concurrent license, adequate controls and mechanisms must be in place to ensure that a network has at least as many licenses as there are users of the product at any one time. Electronic or manual controls or procedures are required to justify the calculation of the number of licenses.

Claris: Claris Corp's. new software license program, effective March 13, 1992, addresses home and travel use, and concurrent use in network environments. Claris software is licensed to an individual user and accommodates users who work on more than one computer. For example, when not in the office, a user can legally use a copy of the software on a portable computer or on a second computer at home; only one copy of software with a specific serial number can be in use at one time, and 80 percent of the use must occur at the primary work location. The license also provides for concurrent use in networked environments that maintain a network management application that meters software usage and can count and "lock out" users whenever the number of concurrent users exceeds the number of licensed copies. Customers can choose their preferred metering software.

WordPerfect: WordPerfect's new licensing policy allows people who buy single software packages to make a copy on a home or travel computer with the stipulation that both copies never be used at the same time. However, this new policy does not apply to most software purchased for use at the University. WordPerfect Corp. software purchased under the discounted single-unit program (i.e., $135 special discount price, with "ed" appearing in the serial number) does not fall under the new licensing policy. WordPerfect Corp. feels that because educational pricing is extended to faculty, staff, and students to purchase software for personal use, the home and travel use provision of the new license agreement does not apply to these discounted pro-ducts. The home and travel provision also does not apply to the 8-for-1 licensing program for schools.