Andrew,
perhaps you haven't noticed that most commercial software licenses and bundled operating system licenses are *not* transferable without some kind authorization by or payment of fee to the vendor. I don't mind repetition. I just like to hear a few variations on a theme now and then.
As a point of reference, here's some verbiage on Cisco's position re: transferability of software licenses. Below this, find verbiage re: HP's transferability of software license. Looks to me like Network Appliance's policies is *not* out of the norm for commercial systems software:
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/csc/refurb_equipment/swlicense.html
Software Transfer and Licensing Overview
Like many high-tech companies that produce software, Cisco adopts a policy of non-transferability of its software in order to protect its intellectual property rights. What this means in practice is that owners of Cisco products are only allowed to transfer, re-sell or re-lease used Cisco hardware and not the embedded software that runs on the hardware. This policy also applies to Cisco standalone software applications.
As Ciscos installed base of equipment has grown to such large numbers over the years, our customers have become more interested in selling and leasing used Cisco equipment on the secondary market. In order to provide our valued customers and partners with this capability, Cisco is now setting up a program where companies can do this and comply with the terms of the software license agreement that accompanies every purchase of a new Cisco product. Companies interested in transferring title and ownership of Cisco equipment that contains embedded software may now purchase a new software license to do so. Leasing companies that wish to re-lease a Cisco product with embedded software to another lessee must also purchase on behalf of the new lessee a software license each time before doing so, except where a lessee has defaulted and the new lease does not extend the term of the old one.
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http://www.software.hp.com/SW-INFO/21.htm
Understanding Software Licensing
The subject of software licensing is an often misunderstood facet of our business. Unlike the sale of computer hardware where the customer acquires the title to the physical asset, the buyers of software do not actually purchase the bits and bytes of the software product. Rather, it is the RIGHT TO USE the software that is purchased. The developers of the software typically retain total ownership of the software.
Within HP, the rights and limitations associated with the purchase of software are communicated to customers in two legal documents:
* Terms & Conditions of Sale - describes the rights and responsibilities applicable to all HP customers who purchase hardware and software.
* Software Certificate or "License" - describes rights or features associated with the purchase of a particular software product. These rights are referred to within the Certificate or License as the "Right to Use" or "License to Use". Examples of these rights include the number of users entitled to use the product, particular software functionality, the class of machine onto which the product is entitled to be run, or the geographic boundaries within which the software is entitled to be used.
Transferring Software Licenses
The transferring of software licenses is a process by which HP terminates a previously issued software license and grants the license to a new licensee. This situation most frequently occurs with the sale of system hardware and associated software by one company to another. HP's Corporate Terms & Conditions of Sale, clause "i", provides allowances for the transfer of software licenses in accordance with the following:
"Customer's entire license in Software License is transferable subject to HP's prior written authorization and payment to HP of any applicable transfer fees. Customer will immediately upon transfer deliver all copies of the Software to the transferee. party to whom HP has authorized transfer of Customer's license. The transferee must agree in writing to the terms of Customer's license. All license terms will be binding on involuntary transferees, notice of which is hereby given. Customer's license will automatically terminate upon any transfer."
-----Original Message----- Behalf Of Andrew Siegel Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 8:36 PM To: toasters@mathworks.com; Subject: RE: 36F disk
How about anytime you want to repeat your same email again, just writing "yada yada software license yada yada transferable yada yada
leasing company
yada yada union computer exchange yada yada" and we'll know
what you mean to
say.
That's really rude. The guy is doing us *all* a favor by reminding us that NetApp double dips on the software licensing fee when a machine is is sold on the secondary market. This bears periodic repetition.