At 4/23/2002 Tuesday 11:52 AM, you wrote: >Microsoft's XP license agreement says, "Except >as otherwise permitted by the NetMeeting, Remote >Assistance, and Remote Desktop features described >below, you may not use the Product to permit any >Device to use, access, display, or run other >executable software residing on the Workstation >Computer, nor may you permit any Device to use, >access, display, or run the Product or Product's >user interface, unless the Device has a separate >license for the Product."
Guess it depends on what "Device" means, or, specifically, what a court decides it means. If "Device" means device, as commonly used, right now this verbiage says you must have a separate licence for *each* of *any* attached mouse, keyboard, display monitor, or other device. Note that the type of applications mentioned "NetMeeting, Remote Assistance, and Remote Desktop) *imply* remote "use, access, display, or run[ning]," but nowhere else does it explicitly use the term "remote;" it makes (as any lawyer will advise) the broadest possible claim. Clearly, a laptop must be a single device. Do I need more licences for its docking station, detached second keyboard, and second monitor? Do I need another license if I attach a mouse to the laptop instead of using its integral touchpad or joybutton? But does the "Workstation Computer" include its peripherals? If I use a switchbox to choose between two monitors do I need three additional licenses? Yes, this is "reductio ad absurdem." The problem with splitting hares is that you get rabbit guts all over the place. OTOH, it says, "you may not use the Product to permit [those uses enumerated]." One could argue that one merely uses the Product to run VNC Server and that VNC Server (surely not a Device) then runs the user interface and applications, while connected to a VNC Viewer. Best regards, -- Chris Johansen 33 Haywood Street Asheville, NC 28801-2835 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the line: 'unsubscribe vnc-list' in the message BODY See also: http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/intouch.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------
