what are acceptable licensing terms?

Posted by Stephen Zeoli
May 18, 2009 at 01:39 PM

Speaking as someone who has bought A LOT of software over 25 years as a computer owner, I’d like to add my two cents to this:

I want the licensing to be as easy as possible.

I don’t want to have to pay additional fees to use the software on multiple computers… you’re just adding an additional hassle to someone who has already agreed to be your customer. It just feels like the developer is trying to squeeze more money out of me—if you can’t sustain the product on the fee for one computer, raise the price. Buying software that can only be used on one computer is like buying a car that can only be driven on one highway.

I tend to distrust developers who do not trust me to be an honest user, so don’t have complicated processes for how to register the software. This isn’t a James Bond movie.

Developers worry someone might be using their application without paying for it. While that might be true, my guess is that those people who do so, would never have bought if you’d made it more secure. So you haven’t really lost any revenue. But you might lose revenue from honest users like me who decide not to use or buy your software because of the convoluted licensing and registration scheme. (Just to be clear, I’m not aiming this statement at the friendly developers who contribute to this forum.)

In short, keep it simple and trust your customers.

Steve Z.