License / Registration key enabled software

[Mike Playle]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:19:37 +1000, Ben Finney wrote:
>> For instance a customer might want to buy a license to use your
>> software on up to 5 machines at once, but still have the software
>> installed on every machine in the company.
> 
> This need is adequately served by not imposing usage restrictions. Any
> effective imposition of usage restrictions is hostile to the wants of
> the user.

Who is "the user"? The person who uses the software isn't always
the same as the person who paid for it, or the person who'll be
in trouble if the license terms aren't adhered to.

Imagine you're an IT manager for a medium-to-large company who
wants to use some expensive piece of software. You talk to the
vendor and buy a licence to use the software on up to 5 machines
at once, but you don't know who in the company will want to use
it, so for convenience you want to install it on every PC in the
building.

Having installed it all over the shop, how can you be sure that
only 5 people are using it at any one time? Do you expect your
users to walk round the building asking everyone else if they're
using the software, or are they more likely to just start it up
and start working?

Of course this argument really applies only to large, expensive
commercial packages. I'd certainly agree that licence keys are
often used inappropriately in a way which doesn't really benefit
anyone, but this doesn't mean they don't have a place somewhere
in the grand scheme of things.

Mike