Message-ID: <57gv1e$mbr@newton.pacific.net.sg> Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 08:44:30 GMT From: Whistle Blower <mailto:whistle@BLOWER.COM.SG> Subject: Software Licensing To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Hi, I need help to understand off-the-shelf software licensing. Suppose 4 years back you bought X software which happens to be an authoring tool. You checked the licensing agreement and created X++ software using X software.Today, the software company has decided to change their licensing agreement. All of a sudden you find that your investment of software, hardware, time and aspirations all vanish overnight so to speak because they have made your X++ software illegal.
Question: Can a software company selling a off-the-shelf development tool change its licensing agreement so drastically? If Microsoft and Borland were to announce that they have both decided to change their licensing agreement so that the EXE and DLL you created with C/C++ will require you to pay them a royalty fee if you want to distribute them; will you accept? Is this kind of action legally enforceable.
Thank you for your reply. Please do not send your reply via private e-mail. The software X in question is Asymetrix ToolBook. However, they have an exception which is Express Author from IAT. Asymetrix claimed that Express Author is legal because IAT is their business partner cum authorized training centre. Can Asymetrix use this excuse to decide whether a software is legal while another is illegal. Asymetrix's general counsel is Steven Esau <mailto:stevene@asymetrix.com>.