For years, many businesses interested in renting computers running Microsoft software to third parties have faced a dilemma: either (1) commit to a complicated and potentially expensive Microsoft Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA), which until recently was the only license agreement under which Microsoft has allowed its software to be rented, (2) rent the computers outside a SPLA relationship and risk the exposure that such activity can entail in the form of an audit by Microsoft or by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), or (3) forego the revenue that might be realized from the rental business. Many other business owners have been unaware of the prohibition against renting in most Microsoft license agreements until discovering, in the context of a BSA audit, that the BSA typically treats a breached license as no license at all for the purpose of calculating the penalty to be paid to resolve a software audit. Worse, after paying that penalty to the BSA, affected businesses have been forced to enter into a SPLA in order to continue offering rental services, or else run the risk of losing the release from liability that they purchased with the settlement payment.
However, in a comparatively rare move toward licensing simplification, as of January 1, 2010, Microsoft is offering Rental Rights as an additive license for certain Windows operating system and Office productivity software licenses purchased under its Open and Select volume licensing programs. Now, instead of signing up for a SPLA, Microsoft’s compliance-minded volume licensing customers will be able to purchase rental rights along with other additive licenses (such as, for example, Software Assurance) when they purchase the underlying license for an eligible software product. The rental rights will be valid for the term of the underlying software license or for life of the system on which the software is installed.
More information on the new Rental Rights is available here:
https://partner.microsoft.com/40104043
The current pricing appears to be such that businesses with larger fleets of rental computers may want to stay with the more scalable SPLA licensing requirements. However, smaller businesses or those with a more limited number of rental systems should work with counsel or a licensing consultant to determine whether Rental Rights will be an appropriate mechanism to stay in compliance with licensing obligations.
Posted by Web Master at 01/27/2010 12:41:08 PM