I recommend watching this thorough and clear overview which explains the benefits of the Software Licensing and Protection Services solutions that Microsoft has developed. It’s an engaging video with a well organized slide presentation.
CLICK HERE to view video

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Download the tutorial to better understand Microsoft’s Software Licensing and Protection Services (SLP Services) and to become familiar with its capabilities, such as code protection, flexible licensing, and copy protection.
CLICK HERE to read more

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In the last few years, more companies (of all sizes) have been vulnerable to piracy penalties. Until dynamic licensing solutions are an integral part of every business, we’ll keep reading of cases such as this one.

Companies of all sizes inadvertently break licensing rules because of problems the software industry itself has created. Unable or unwilling to create technological blocks against copying, the industry has saddled its customers with complex licensing agreements that are hard to master.

Click here to continue reading the full article written in the STLtoday.com.

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I came across a great page on Aaxnet concerning software licensing that helps to answer these important questions: Do you know what your rights are as a consumer when you purchase any kind of licensed software? Do you know what the level of compliance is on this issue? Most importantly, do you know what the consequences are for misusing licensed software? Did you know that the maximum penalty is $150,000 per license “deficiency”?

Click here to continue to Aaxnets page on software licensing for the answers I think everyone needs to be informed about.

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Software piracy is the unlawful use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented software. Software piracy steals jobs and wages, increases the cost of software development, and puts companies who use pirated software at risk. I read that Microsoft has unique solutions to help protect software with the use of dynamic licensing.

I think it’s worth a read…

Click here to continue

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Software Auditing is a solution that more and more ISV’s are taking up to make sure that enterprise size companies are paying for all their software licenses. Depending on the licensing package sold to a company they should be able to tell an ISV how many copies are installed and working. A software audit is also a great way for ISV’s to go in and see how their software is being used in real world situations. This is a great way to make sure that your software is properly installed, being used as it should be, and to receive feed back for improvements for future updates or releases.

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We have found a great white paper that explains to organizations how to properly prepare for a software audit.

If you can’t answer the following questions then you should check out this white paper.

* What’s involved in a software audit?* How can you prepare for an audit?* What’s a software “true-up” and how can you plan for one?* What can you do to better align your contracts with your actual software usage?* How can you find out if you’re paying for unused software maintenance?

The Whitepaper is found at http://whitepapers.zdnet.co.uk/0,1000000651,260258157p,00.htm

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The Business Software Alliance in the United States has started a program that will give amnesty to companies that use illegal software licenses so long as they report it. By performing software audits and reporting their software licensing infractions companies can avoid legal penalties, which run as high as $150,000 per infraction. “For the most part, the problem exists because people just aren’t paying attention to whether their software is properly licensed or not,” said Bob Kruger, the BSA’s vice president of enforcement.

Full article at http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,2102013,00.htm

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As much as ISV’s will try to protect their software with licensing tools such as code obfuscation and license keys it often up to the IT department to regulate enforcement. IT is the only part of an organization that has access to all of the workstations and the network. ISV’s need to push companies and organizations to have their IT departments regulate software installations and make sure that everything is properly enforced. ISV’s also need to push companies to punish violators because it put the companies and organization at risk for legal actions, especially if disgruntled report those infractions.

For more information check out this article at http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/P2730/32p30/32p30.asp

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Paul Duvall, co-author of a new book on continuous integration, discusses how continuous integration has evolved and how it can improve software quality. He also offers some tips for development teams on how to do continuous integration. Read the full interview here http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/qna/0,289202,sid92_gci1261901,00.html  

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