Software theft has to stop; pay up or go open source!


Abstract: I believe the software licensing situation at some universities is totally out of hand with many more installs of software than purchased licenses. I think sometimes this even happens in schools that teach ethics. I believe universities either need to tighten up their licensing and license accounting procedures or adopt open source software.

If a school lacks an accurate and up to date inventory of software licensing I believe there is a safe bet there is a good deal of software theft going on. Lacking an effective audit system I believe many higher education institutions are violating software licenses routinely. The incentive is there to do so, especially in the face of shrinking budgets. Often faculty may ask IT staff to install software on their systems without concern for buying that software. Since IT staff may be routinely be supervised by Deans and Department Chairs who are themselves faculty and not IT professionals it is easy to overlook the details of using legal software. In fact, IT professionals may, in such environments, feel like trouble makers if they do protest that their managers are violating the law. Lacking software licensing audit procedures, significant legal exposures for some universities may be being created. What can financially strapped educational institutions do? The can get legal and go open source! In a recent post to Newsforge Richard Stallman writes about the reasons schools should adopt open source software. I believe he is right. Lack of funds is not an excuse to break the law.

Posted: Mon - November 10, 2003 at 11:02 PM      

©