Autodesk Clarifies Licensing with New Products

[glee.94356]

Bmyers, good point. Considering the price point of a decent laptop now is about half the costs of buying a new seat. Unless you buy my dream machine (Samsung X25) which I still can't afford or justify. : )
Now for a one person or two person firm which is running as a partnership or a sole proprietor, they probably are still legal based on the info you have provided above. A single proprietor obviously can install the same license on his workstation and laptop using a standalone license as log as he accesses only one license at a time. As a sole proprietor , not a problem. Sort of works alone the same lines when it becomes a partnership, as long as each partner sticks to their machines and uses each license correctly.
The moment you have employees or become incorporated, that goes out the window. A large firm as I pointed out before can weather this better than say a 5-12 person firm. Actually it's those firms that are in the 5 person realm or slightly larger/smaller that hurt the most. Their revenues are not as stable but their overhead is disproportionately larger than other firms.
Most firms I believe intend to be legal and budget accordingly. But the mindset is one license=I user. Not 2 license= 1 user. Wrapping your brain around that issue is going to be a tough pill to swallow.
A small firm may balk at buying that extra laptop or seat. But probably the best way to go. If the employee is on the road, then check out a laptop. If they use network licenses, it's a simple matter of checking out their license and the laptop is owned by the firm. Not a problem. But a hard to swallow if employees are on the road once awhile and the laptop sits gathering dust 2/3s or the time.
Not for the employee who wakes up in the morning and feels too ill to want to commute in to work but feels sufficiently well to get some work done. Since cannot anticipate falling ill, no way to check out a laptop. They may have VPN but now are unable to checkout a license because the machine they have is personal and so not within the control of the employer. Go back to bed. Probably better for them anyways.
As far as illegal copies floating around, I agree that there will be more. But not intentional. Many companies buy the software, install them and never think about them again. 1 license=1 user. For the most part this has mostly held true on software you purchase. Not all firms have CAD managers and many are good at using the software and dont really think about legal mambo jumbo. Same with many IT guys. They equate being legal with buying the seats you need that corresponds with the number of users you have. Initially working from home works fine for other enterprises because everyone has microsoft office at home. Typing that memo or creating a spreadsheet is fine to an extent. Everyone has some kind of image manipulation software at home. Not everyone owns a 3grand drafting software.
As can be seen through the number of post here, there are solutions for some firms but not all and definitely nothing affordable for the small guy.

[rkmcswain]

In short: it appears the only time AutoCAD could ever legally be installed on a computer not owned by the person that it is licensed to is if the INDIVIDUAL (not company) that owns the license of AutoCAD is using it on a machine under his control.

I understand the EULA changes and the whole piracy thing. But the license itself and the software install itself are two separate and different things.

It's no different than installing 100 seats of AutoCAD and only having 2 network licenses. You can never run more than 2 so what difference does it make if every employee in the company has a copy installed, at work, or at home?

Standalone licenses I could see, but not network seats. The licenses are controlled by the LM, not the remote user trying to gain access to said license.

So what is everyone doing 6 months later...?

Is anyone use Remote Desktop from home to access their work machine?

[r.grandmaison]

...
So what is everyone doing 6 months later...?

As I read the License Agreement we're fine. I do NOT see anything in it that would prohibit ME from installing AutoCAD on my home or laptop computer! Consider the terms of the license agreement: In the first section, when it defines terms, the term YOU is used...

1.8 You means you personally (i.e., the individual who reads and is prompted to accept this Agreement) if you acquire the Software for yourself or the company or other legal entity for whom you acquire the Software.

Then, in the section for Additional Installation it says that:

3.1.2 Additional Installation. Except with regard to Educational Institutional, Student and Evaluation Versions only, You may Install and Access a second copy of the Software on the hard disk of a second Computer owned by You or under Your control provided that:

(i) the original and second copies are used only by the same person;

(ii) the second copy is Installed and Accessed only on either (a) with respect to Network Versions, a redundant server that makes the Software available for use only when Your primary server on which the active Software copy is Installed becomes inoperable, or (b) a notebook computer or other non-server computer away from Your usual work location for the purpose of enabling You to perform work while away from Your usual work location;

(iii) only one of the Software copies is Accessed at any one time; and

(iv) both copies of the Software are Installed and Accessed exclusively with the copy protection device (if any) supplied with the Software.


I don't see anything in the License agreement that says the second, additional installation, must be owned by the company, but it DOES clearly say that the second machine must be under MY control. My laptop, owned by me but used for company drafting when I'm away from my station, is totally under my control.

[Brian Myers]

But the license itself and the software install itself are two separate and different things.

Standalone licenses I could see, but not network seats. The licenses are controlled by the LM, not the remote user trying to gain access to said license.

My guess is that it's a matter of liability.

In other words, I would assume that the act of checking the license out is more of a "risk". Example: If you download a license onto your personal computer then your kids, wife, really anyone may have access to it and thus it wouldn't be under company control. But, if its loaded onto a company machine then its less likely to be "public domain" while you have it. In other words, it's less likely you'll let others do work on it and control it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of what I'm posting here, I'm simply stating what I believe to be the logic behind it.

I'm curious too if this has changed the way anyone is actually handling this situation and if so, how that is?

[rkmcswain]

In other words, I would assume that the act of checking the license out is more of a "risk". Example: If you download a license onto your personal computer then your kids, wife, really anyone may have access to it and thus it wouldn't be under company control. But, if its loaded onto a company machine then its less likely to be "public domain" while you have it. In other words, it's less likely you'll let others do work on it and control it.

Yea, I see what you are saying. But as pointed out earlier, this is just going to hurt the honest customers. The crooks are going to figure out a way.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of what I'm posting here, I'm simply stating what I believe to be the logic behind it.

I'm curious too if this has changed the way anyone is actually handling this situation and if so, how that is?

I'm going to experiment with having users log into the VPN and connect to their machine via Remote Desktop. I've done this many times, but not for production work.

[Brian Myers]

1.8 You means you personally (i.e., the individual who reads and is prompted to accept this Agreement) if you acquire the Software for yourself or the company or other legal entity for whom you acquire the Software.


I don't see anything in the License agreement that says the second, additional installation, must be owned by the company, but it DOES clearly say that the second machine must be under MY control. My laptop, owned by me but used for company drafting when I'm away from my station, is totally under my control.

True, but if I read this right then it only applies if YOU are the one to install it and accept the agreement and in this case the License you agreed upon is under your control, the official representative of the company. Not only that, but since you are "sharing" the license without actually moving it from one machine to another I believe you would need to be the person to accept that agreement on both machines (unless I'm reading something into this that isn't explicitly stated). This is unlikely in most CAD management controlled environments...

[rkmcswain]

True, but if I read this right then it only applies if YOU are the one to install it and accept the agreement and in this case the License you agreed upon is under your control, the official representative of the company. Not only that, but since you are "sharing" the license without actually moving it from one machine to another I believe you would need to be the person to accept that agreement on both machines (unless I'm reading something into this that isn't explicitly stated). This is unlikely in most CAD management controlled environments...

All of this to provide lawyers with something to do...

As Jerry Seinfeld said, In the game of life, lawyers are just the only one's who have read the inside of the box cover.

[Brian Myers]

I'm going to experiment with having users log into the VPN and connect to their machine via Remote Desktop. I've done this many times, but not for production work.

Years ago this would have been a bad idea, today it just might work. If you would, let us know how it works out for you!

Brian

[jaberwok]

As I read the License Agreement we're fine. I do NOT see anything in it that would prohibit ME from installing AutoCAD on my home or laptop computer! Consider the terms of the license agreement: In the first section, when it defines terms, the term YOU is used...

1.8 You means you personally (i.e., the individual who reads and is prompted to accept this Agreement) if you acquire the Software for yourself or the company or other legal entity for whom you acquire the Software.

(snip)

Would that interpretation stand where an IT department deploys 100 seats, though?

[Ogre]

So having a stand alone copy and using the Portable License Utility to transfer the license from my workstation to my home workstation (personal because my company does not like to spend that kind of money) is illegal...If I were to leave the company and "steal" the license, the trace would be clear and no doubt where the license is...Plus that would be an issue for the company, not Autodesk, to deal with...Well if that is illegal, then why even offer the PLU??? Why not make Stand Alone mean stand alone...One install, one license, one machine...I like the PLU though, do not get me wrong...Below is an example that saved the company $250,000...

While I do not work from home often, sometimes it comes up or would be handy...One of my co-workers was out for 6 weeks because of a horizontaly herniated (sp?) disk in his back causing him to injure his hip...He used the PLU to be able to work from home...Let's just say he has been working in the industry (Architectural and Theatrical Dimming Systems) longer than I have been alive and I have been in it for 11 months now...While I have made great strides, I am no where near his knowledge...Without the PLU, we would have been stranded for 6 weeks...We had a huge complicated job come in and I had no time to do it (I had 2 big ones on my desk)...He was able to get 60% done while at home...

While I know that Autodesk is trying to keep piracy from happening (like with AutoCAD 2004 and below) it is putting a strain on their customers...While some CAD makes the business money, the portion that I am in is a cost...Marketing makes all the money because they make the sales, not us...While we support Marketing by providing CAD documents (like Manuals to use our product), we cost money to maintain and bring in no sales...It is hard enough for me to persuade management that we need to upgrade from P3 800 Mhz machines to run AutoCAD 2006 let alone get them to buy me a Laptop or workstation for home...