Noticed New Licensing Mumbo Jumbo Change on Rev3.1 3

[Rocko]

You guys noticed how SW is now saying you may or may not be able to have more than one copy of SW per license. I guess the days of the old home copy are gone. It looks like they are trying to become more like Pro E everyday. LOL

 

[J-C]

You can install and activate the license twice...once for your work computer...and once for your home computer.

The process is fairly painless.........could be hassle for computers not on the net.....or for computers where the hardrive dies. Guess they figure these two things aren't that common.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
UG NX4.01.0 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2007 SP3.1 on WinXP SP2

 

[ctopher]

I was told by my VAR about a month ago that the home license is going away.

Chris
SolidWorks 07 3.0/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 04-08-07)

 

[rporter]

We have some at our company that use SolidWorks from home in the evening and on weekends. If they do away with the home use license we will have longer project time lines which is not being more productive.

 

[J-C]

If thats true...Solidworks is going to start driving customers away to competitors.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
UG NX4.01.0 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2007 SP3.1 on WinXP SP2

 

[fcsuper]

They aren't getting rid of one's ability to work from home. That would be illegal, at least under California law. They've been threatening to get rid of the home licence scheme. In its place, they've already have the license check-out scheme, where you can check out a license and take it home with you. I'm not a lawyer, but I do believe this might still be techincally illegal under Cali law, but if not, it is an annoying loophole they are exploiting. I believe that the check-out function will ultimately hurt their customers if they wish to depend on that to avoid piracy.

Rant alert: The problem they don't see yet is the fact that there is a need for gray market copies to float around to keep their software standard. Many vendors need SW to work with their customer's files, but have no use for it themselves, so why would they pay thousands of dollar to buy it and thousands to maintain it when they are only using about 5% of its functions. Essentially, SolidWorks tries to force mom and pops to own their own copies, it is us true SolidWorks customers who pay. We basically are paying for our licenses, and our vendor's licenses. And that really isn't fair at all.

Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA

http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php

 

[dgowans]

Matt,

The reason why the mom-n-pops would (or should) pay for their license is that the cost of a legal license of SWX is miniscule when compared to the cost of a BSA audit. I don't want to get into a debate over ethics and unfair competitive practices, but companies that use "gray market" licenses in order to receive customer data are:

A) breaking the law
B) not playing on a level playing field with their competition who does pay for licenses

I don't blame Solidworks one bit for trying to incorporate anti-piracy measures. After all, they're a business, not a charity.

If Solidworks can eliminate piracy through these measures, it stands to reason that costs will go down for the rest of us, doesn't it? I've got to believe that there is some reparation for lost revenue due to piracy baked into the cost of a license / subscription service.

 

[Rocko]

One of the reasons I bought SW for my company was because of their customer first philosophy. The understood that their market was the smaller companies thus the people buying the product actually did alot a work at home also. It seems they are ready to kick the buyers to the curb who put them where they are today! I can tell you if they keep going this way I will not renew my maintenance.

 

[rporter]

We may be talking about two diffrent things here. The standalone license and the network license.

The network license currently has two ways to take it home, one is the check out check in and the other is the home use license.

The standalone only has the home use option availible which I would still call a home use license.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Rocko ...

If the Software is permanently installed on the hard disk or other storage device of a computer (other than a network server) and one person uses that computer more than 80% of the time it is in use, then that person may also use the Software on a portable or home computer while the original copy is not in use. You will keep accurate and up-to-date records of the numbers and locations of all copies of the Software, will supervise and control the use of the Software in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and will provide copies of such records to SolidWorks upon reasonable request.

I don't see anything different from previous releases. Can you post the part of the agreement you are referring to.


SW07-SP3.1
SW06-SP5.1

 

[Rocko]

I have a standalone license. When I upgraded to the latest build SP3.1 online it popped up a new license agreement and then did over the internet a licensing request (which is new). It stated in a pop up about you may not be able to install more than one copy ect.. I really did not overly think about it because it caught me off guard on having to request some kind of internet access to verify. Then I started wondering if i screwed myself over by not insalling an update to my work computer first before my home copy in case they start locking you out ect..

 

[fcsuper]

dgowans,

No debate. Gray market creates business opportunity for the software publisher, so it doesn't stand to reason costs will go down without it. We aren't talking black market piracy here. I agree that hurts everyone.

If SolidWorks doesn't like gray market, then I would like to see them provide an alternative to fill the gap, so their customers aren't hurt. I've put in multiple enhancement requests for SolidWorks to publish a lite version specifically geared for vendors who aren't modifying the models, but need access model geometry directly.

As far as the original comment goes, CBL seems to suggest there is a misunderstanding. I know my VAR told me a few years ago that SW was planning to get rid of home licensing, but it doesn't seem like they've made that move yet.

To explain my comment about CA law, under a court ruling in the 90's, "Like A Book" understanding of licencing was enforced, regardless of what a s\w license might say. However, my information may be outdated if the law has been changed or if the 1998 digital information act superceded the court decision.


Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA

http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php

 

[dgowans]

Matt,

I'm having a hard time understanding exactly what it is you mean by "gray market" copies of the software. Either these companies need direct access to the native SWX data or they don't. If they just need geometry (presumably for manipulation in some other system), SWX can export any number of neutral files. If these companies' customers refuse to supply anything other than native data then the companies who need "gray market" copies need to buy SWX as a cost of doing business.

I'm not saying the automotive industry is a shining example of what to do, but automotive suppliers by and large are required to work with native data. This supply base typically either has licenses of the software or pays a service bureau to do whatever conversion they need.

Can you give me an example of an instance where a "gray market" copy of the software would create a business opportunity for Solidworks?

 

[fcsuper]

dgowans,

We are talking two different languages, taking this discussion outside of the scope of the original question. Perhaps we can save this discussion for another day.



Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA

http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php

 

[SBaugh]

The home use license is still around... if you VAR told you otherwise, then he was wrong... the SNL home use license process has changed, but you still get a copy at home for SNL users. Those of you using Standalone seats get to activate 2 copies of the software. After that you will not be able to install it on another machine. You can transfer a license from one to the other, but you will not get more then 2.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[PDMAdmin]

Thanks for the clarification, Scott. That makes sense. Borrowing licenses from work would not be feasible for a home computer because of firewall issues, anyway, unless the company allowed VPN access from a home machine (which my company does not).

 

[Rocko]

So Scott, does that mean if I have SW2006 & SW2007 on one computer and SW2006, SW2007 and SW2005(dont ask why LOL) on another I will not be able to upgrade or run them?

 

[rockguy]

Nothing has really changed except the way you register your software. Instead of operating on good faith SW now has more control of how many times you install the software. They are not changing the rules, just enforcing them. I really dont see the big deal.

Rob Rodriguez CSWP

http://www.axiscadsolutions.com

http://www.robrodriguez.com

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/rob_rodriguez/

Eastern Region SWUGN Representative

http://www.swugn.org

http://www.nvtswug.com

SW 2007 SP 2.0

 

[Rocko]

Also what happens if you get a new computer and need to reinstall the software , but happen to not be on maintenance anymore? I could see where they use the new authentication process to make life a pain for those who do not continue to pay the man. Will you not be able to install till you go on maintenance again? I never like it when people change licensing processes mid way during an agreement (we are on maintenance). They should have waited till the 2008 version and let us decide to renew or not.

 

[rfus]

rocko, you should make sure to save a copy of the upgrade installer from 0.0 to the latest. You would want to download this before you left maintenance.

My question would be, What about multiple partitions on the same machine?

I have an install at work. At home I have an install on the same machine on a win32 and a x64. There would be no way to use both at the same time, but wouldn't this be 3 installs. I also like to be able to run tests with my single user licence on other machines around the office when I get those bugs that seem like the are due to my OS. Won't be able to do that anymore either.

The bad folks always ruin everything for the good guys.