Re: [seul-edu] MS targeting schools for software audits...

[Phil Collins <philosofr@yahoo.com>]

--- Dan Kolb <dankolb@ox.compsoc.net> wrote:
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> On Monday 22 Apr 2002 19:11 pm, Paul Nelson wrote:
> > The 24 largest school districts in Oregon and Washington are
> being
> > audited my the Microsoft marketing department for license
> compliance.
> > Along with the letter from MS came an invitation to lease
> software from
> > MS as part of a school agreement that requires MS licenses for
> every
> > Pentium and PPC computer, even those running Linux or Mac OS.
> 
> Who signs such agreements? Surely you should only pay for the
> number of MS 
> licences you use/have? If a company had, say, 200 computers all
> running Linux 
> (no MS software), and Microsoft decided to audit them, there's
> absolutely 
> nothing they could do about said company not paying them any money
> for 
> software.
> 
> I understand that it is in Microsoft's interest to ensure licence
> compliance, 
> and I can't blame them for doing audits - they are, after all,
> looking after 
> their own business interests. What I can't understand is what sort
> of person 
> signs agreements that says that every computer *must* have a
> Microsoft 
> licence, even if it doesn't have a Microsoft OS.
> 
> Dan
> - -- 
> Your true value depends entirely on what you are compared with.

The problem is that students, teachers, staff, etc., can copy
Microsoft products onto PCs and Macs.  Why not place a sticker saying
"Microsoft Free" or, perhaps better, "Microsoft NOT Inside" on the CD
tray fronts and floppy drives of computers designated as
non-Microsoft, as a reminder?

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