Software Asset Management (SAM) Blog

IBM has filed a lawsuit in which it accuses a former customer of downloading and using more than $1.7 million worth of Informix software it was not entitled to.

IBM says it offered to reach a settlement with the broker, but that this was rejected and the illegal software has still not been deleted from the company’s network. IBM is asking the court to award it unspecified damages and issue an injunction that would impound all copies of Informix software that it believes were improperly downloaded.

FrontRange Solutions has announced License Manager 3.1, the latest of its SAM solutions designed to help organisations better manage their software assets.

Key features in the new product include the ability to manage company-wide licensing model such as Microsoft Enterprise Agreements (and similar licensing agreements from other key vendors) as well as a new data collector for Microsoft SMS 2003.

This means that for organization already invested in the Microsoft audit and inventory solution, they can now use the FrontRange technology in conjunction with the audit results from SMS 2003.

FrontRange License Manager 3.1 also features a new bulk data import tool, which can take licensing information from multiple vendors and contracts, and load this into the license repository automatically, presenting a significant administrative saving to the end user organization.

Microsoft has joined forces with the Linux Foundation to draft a shared letter to the American Law Institute (ALI) on the subject of software licensing laws.

Both software providers are concerned that ALI is considering a guideline that would make the assumption that all software should be shipped with no defects, and that this should be considered a de facto warranty.

TYhe ALI is made up of members from the American legal establishment, which draws up guidelines for judges that explain how the law should be applied in legal cases. This week the group meets to finalise the Principles of the Law of Software Contracts.

The exchequer secretary to the Treasury, Angela Eagle has confirmed that the UK Government and Microsoft have reached agreement over a new software licensing deal. The Office of Governement Commerce (OGC) claims the new deal will save the Government some £75 million (us $114 million) over the next five years.

While the details of the deal are not clear, it is reported that the Government will be able to re-use old licenses and that license terms have been agreed that allow departments to only pay for those components of Microsoft’s usual software bundles that they actually intend to use.

The new five-year deal replaces the previous three-year agreement - the longer time-frame is said to better suit Government buying cycles.