[NCLUG] RFC: draft of press release -- comments from another side

[John L. Bass]

	>"The typical end-user license agreement runs to thousands of
	>words," said NCLUG president Matt Taggart.  "It's virtually
	>impossible for non-lawyers to know if they are using their
	>software in accordance with licensing terms." The Microsoft
	>Windows 2000 end-user license agreement (EULA), for example,
	>is 14 pages long. Microsoft Office 2000 has a 9 page EULA.
	>
	>Under the NCLUG program, NCLUG technologists will examine a
	>computer system. If they determine that the operating system
	>or application software is licensed under an agreement that
	>imposes difficult or arcane terms, they will offer to replace
	>the software with a more liberally licensed alternative.

Phrasing of such an initiative needs to go a long way, as not to
portray NCLUG as a den of software pirates, either by direct action,
or indirect association. We all know what is really right and
wrong in software use, dispite the length and legalese of the
agreement. The real issue that BSA addresses is outright software
piracy by many organizations - not as an accident, but by explict
policy of management and actions of employees. Any other statements
or implications clearly represent "agendas" that have a moral cast.

While Microsoft bashing is popular in many cliques, in others the
company holds a lot of respect. The general tone of the proposed
text can easily be taken as Microsoft bashing. Many people attempting
to defend the text could quickly be backed into a corner defending
software piracy due to biases against Microsoft and other BSA
member companies. Many of us have friends and associates that earn
a good living as employees of these companies ... few of those
people like to be indirectly bashed by others, simply because their
employers need the revenue streams that are only available on
Non-GPL software products to support their R&D and engineering staff.

In 33 years in this industry, I have taken stands against software
piracy over a dozen times where I directly defied management demands
to pirate software - both as an employee and a contractor. As a
contractor I have walked off two jobs to avoid legal liability in
the piracy of hundreds of thousands of dollars of software. A number
of "bosses" have held the position that if the company owns "One"
legal copy, then "Fair Use" allows it to be used on an unlimited
number of machines in the company - dispite license terms. Legally
this position is clearly false - and to avoid personal liability
I have been forced to offer my company badge to the Exec demanding
the piracy knowing that defiance of the order could cost my job (and
potentially yield a fat wrongful termination check). Holding your
badge out to a Corporate VP is an extreme adrenaline experience,
fortunately most have backed down on the spot, and were always
aware that the "event" could bite them if documented and made public.
A few of the situations were "interesting" for several days.

In our society, there are a number of people that do not respect
Intellectual Property Ownership rights. Piracy of Video and Audio
library's is common, as is software "stolen" from the work place
for personal use outside the work place. I am aware of home video
and CD libraries that include hundreds of volumes, all copies of
rented or loaned originals. Ditto for software libraries. It is
not uncommon for police when armed with a search warrant for another
crime to impound such libraries and add the copyright violation
charges to the original charges that warranted the original
search warrant - often the dollar value of the private library
"theft" is well into felony numbers and easily adds years to
the original sentence.

Any phrasing in the initiative which suggests that Microsoft
(and other BSA members) have no right to protect their IP investment
against piracy, is likely to suggest that NCLUG is a pirate's
haven. Phrasing which suggests companies and the general public
can replace expensive IP with public domain or GPL alternatives
is a positive message which would serve NCLUG much better over 
the longer term.

Image is everything in a community. Tarnish it thru direct or
indirect association with illegal activities, and it may be
impossible to ever correct. And the organization may never
know what lost opportunities were withheld by others that
did not want to be publicly associated with a group with a
tarnished reputation.

My two cents worth,
John Bass