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Licensing FAQ |
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I thought I was buying your
software - what is this "license" I am paying for?
Our software intellectual
property, like almost all commercial software, is not sold (unless the assets of a
company are being purchased), but instead, the right
to use the software is "sold" to a customer, and
indeed, multiple customers. This right to use the
software is the "license" that you are
purchasing and typically a set
of terms that are laid out in a license agreement
govern the use of the license. For example, license
terms may limit the period of use of the software,
or the rights to modify it. TeamF1's license is
fairly simple - it allows the unlimited use of and
modification rights to the software by the customer
within the context of a specific project or
organization. Further, integrated versions of the
modified or unmodified software in binary form may
be distributed through multiple levels of
distribution based with very few terms and
conditions applicable to end-users.
Does any third-party
software that is included within TeamF1's products
have to be separately licensed?
No, TeamF1 ensures that it
has the license to use and sub-license any
third-party components within the TeamF1 product. In
rare cases, some modules may require that patent
rights or patent licenses (separate from the
software license) be obtained from the party owning
these rights. These components are identified
explicitly in the licensing agreement or are
packaged separately to avoid inadvertent use without
noting the terms. In no case is such software a
mandatory component and the software is always fully
functional without these components being used.
Does the TeamF1 software
license include a warranty and support period?
Yes and No. TeamF1's
software always includes a warranty period as
specified by the license agreement, but support is
available only upon payment of an annual support and
maintenance subscription. During the warranty period
(unless covered by a support and maintenance
arrangement) updates related to defects that impair
the operation of the software (read: "bug-fixes")
are made available at no additional charge. If you
purchased a support and maintenance arrangement
subscription, which we strongly encourage, you are
additionally entitled to full tech-support benefits
as well as patches, updates and upgrades to the
software during the subscription period - whether
these are related to defects or are enhancements to
the base product.
I already signed a
software license agreement with you for one product.
I am very happy with it and would like to license
some of your other products or want to purchase
licenses for other projects in my company. Do I need
to sign a new license agreement?
Typically (and in some
cases, this may be a function of your own company's
legal department) we try to simplify the process as
much as possible. If you already have a license
agreement in place with us, there is a good chance
that we may be able to license other products to you
by just adding attachments to the original
agreement.
My company just got
acquired and the acquiring company wants to continue
development on our project. Do I need to purchase a
new license or do I need to re-license the software?
First of all,
congratulations on being acquired and also on the
status of the project! There is more good news for
you - you DO NOT need to purchase a new license or
relicense the software (assuming that the acquiring
company is taking over the obligations of the
original contract, as is usually the case, and
assuming that no payments were due for the original
license). Let us know your new coordinates, contact
info, new marketing name of your end-product etc. if
they have changed, so we can update our records.
Your license number and other information stays the
same. If for some reason, you don't like your
license number (we hear you, license #13), we will
be happy to provide you with a new license number in
the name of the new company. Sorry, you cannot
change your project or organization scope that the
license is tied to, because of this. Our lawyers
remind us that an acquisition of only specific
assets in certain cases may not be considered an
"acquisition" of the company.
Do I need an export
license to ship your software products
internationally?
OK, this really isn't the
same type of license as described in the above
sections, since export licensing of TeamF1's
products is not something TeamF1 determines - it is
determined by the US Department of Commerce (Bureau
of Industry and Security). The U.S. export control
laws regulate the export and reexport of technology
originating in the United States. However, since you
are reading thus far, it is useful to note that most
TeamF1 products, including most cryptographic ones,
do not need an export license except for a very
small handful of countries (under License exception
ENC). Your end-product may still need to be
separately classified but if the only (or one of the
few) cryptographic components is a TeamF1 product,
the export classification information we provide
(including ECCN number and License exception) will
be helpful in expediting your export classification
which will determine whether you need an export
license or not. Please contact our technical support
team for details (only if you are licensed TeamF1
customer) and we'll share the goodies.
Does your license agreement allow me to use
some of your product documentation in my
end-product's documentation?
Yes, indeed, all TeamF1 copyrighted documentation
supplied with our products can be used freely in
your product documentation under the license
agreement.
At times, we may also provide some third party
documentation if we feel it is useful to our
customers. These documents are released with their
own copyright notice and are not licensed by TeamF1,
though more likely than not, the terms are not any
more restrictive, and you may be able to use these
documents too, as long as you fulfill the copyright
requirements (such as acknowledgements, crediting
the source etc).
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