For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
Subscribe to
Computerworld 40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT leaders.
Schools cry bully over Microsoft licensing fees
or
Other Windows Stories
|
|
|
|
June 04, 2002 -- Microsoft Corp. has earned a failing grade from school districts in Oregon and Washington, where administrators say the company's licensing tactics could force a rapid move to open-source software.
Educators in both states received letters from the company in March giving them 60 days to perform extensive audits in search of unlicensed software, or risk facing potentially costly penalties. The letter came with a marketing brochure touting the company's latest volume-licensing agreements.
The letter's tone, which some recipients felt was threatening, elicited a strong response from school administrators. They complained loudly, and some even threatened to strip their schools' PCs of Microsoft products. The company quickly backed down on its strict deadlines, and executives now say the whole thing was a misunderstanding.
Nevertheless, the experience has prompted many school administrators to seriously consider switching from Microsoft's operating systems and office applications to free or low-cost alternatives such as Linux and Sun Microsystems Inc.'s StarOffice.
Microsoft's letter arrived in 24 school districts in Oregon and Washington, asking for audits to ensure compliance with software licensing agreements. It specified 261 Microsoft products that schools should inventory on each machine.
School administrators acknowledged that Microsoft was well within its rights to ask for a software audit. However, the company's request that the schools complete the task in 60 days -- and its seeming push toward a volume-licensing scheme that few schools could afford -- left many with hard feelings toward the company.
Simply complying with Microsoft's deadline would impose a major financial burden on some districts, said Scott Robinson, chief technology officer of Portland Public Schools in Oregon.
The letter arrived at the busiest time of the year for the schools, as they were gearing up for the close of the spring semester. And because the public schools in Portland have 25,000 computers spread across 100 buildings, completing the audit on time would have required hiring extra personnel at a total cost of around $300,000, Robinson said.
|
Print this Story |
|
Send Us Feedback |
|
E-mail this Story |
|
Digg this Story |
|
Slashdot this Story |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone |
 See your link here
|
 |
||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
|
Download this white paper, FREE, compliments of Symantec!
Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? 
Download this whitepaper to learn how to outsmart spam & viruses, compliments of MessageLabs.
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
- Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner
- Microsoft trumpets security additions in upcoming IE8
- Apple cuts price of high-end SSD MacBook Air by $500
- More top stories
Advance your BlackBerry® solution management know-how this July  Register to attend the BlackBerry Technical Seminar 2008 live on July 9th, 2008, 9AM - 11PM ET. Attend this seminar virtually from the comfort of your desktop and take advantage of learning opportunities designed uniquely for BlackBerry Administrators and Managers. Visit this seminar now!
|
|
|
|
|