[linux-help] Re: Anyone else heard BSA commercials?

[Ironrose <amccadden@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is why I was curious about linux when I was studying Novell and
NT.  These software companies charge a lot for the networking software. 
Both Novell and NT have a way of contacting the company to tattle on
anyone who installs their software on more than one server.  It is
written in the code to connect to the internet to let the software
company know and the network goes nuts.  We tried it in the class with
10 copies of Novell.  

I know that when I worked at CCH, they cracked down on us techies who
were installing our own software on our workstations.  I was repremanded
for having my own copy of Office 97 installed on my workstation.  I
didn't realize until then that the company could be held liable if
software was installed on their computers that they are unable to show a
purchased license for.  They were tipped off that the 'software police'
were in Wichita and we had to do some quick cleanup of our hard drives. 
One real estate company in Wichita almost didn't survive the hefty fines
for lack of software licenses.  As M$ becomes more agressive about
licensing, more companies will be considering and wanting GPL software. 
Thanks for the info Nate.


Nate Bargmann wrote:
> 
> Since I moved back to the north side of KS, I have the opportunity to
> listen to radio stations out of Nebraska.  In particular, I listen to
> KFAB 1100 AM and have heard some interesting commercials by the Business
> Software Alliance.
> 
> It seems the BSA is advertising a "30 day grace period" that runs from
> October 15 to mid-November for companies to audit their software
> licenses.  The commercial I've heard the most goes something like this.
> 
> A male and female voice are talking, from the conversation the female is
> a manager and the male is perhaps the IS manager.  As the commercial
> proceeds the female begins talking about a recent announcement that
> companies are to audit their software licenses as failure to have the
> proper documentation could cost a company up to $150,000 per software
> title.  The male tends to disregard this news and wants to focus on more
> pressing things, in his view.  The female presses the issue and requests
> a report within a short time frame for the male to submit an audit for
> her review.  The female also emphasizes that improper licensing is a
> very serious issue and must be a top priority.  The commercial closes
> with the particulars for companies in the Omaha area to respond to the BSA
> or face the consequnces.
> 
> I'm curious if such a commercial has played in Wichita or other major
> metropolitan areas.  Is the BSA (known strong arm of Microsoft,
> incidentally) dealing with specific areas singly or is this a
> nation-wide push?
> 
> I had a thought that it would be justice if a similar commercial could
> be aired that takes the track of when the IS manager is not concerned
> about the software licenses and the other manager presses the issue, the
> IS manager responds with, "Oh, we're fine!  We only use Free Software
> such as GNU and BSD and there are no restrictions on our use of such
> software.  Royalties are not required, plus we have other benefits that
> go beyond a lower Total Cost of Ownership."  Then I would have the
> commercial close with contact information for an ISV that creates
> solutions using Free Software.
> 
> If anyone finds this useful, consider the idea GPL!
> 
> - Nate >>
> 
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