>>Totally off topic, but two weeks ago I got a call from someone at M$ making a courtsy call to check my name and company at my office. ... just keeping their database up to date as it were,
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>>Friday I got one of those well done photo announcemnts warning us to keep track of all our ms product licenes as the fines can be up to 150,000 or more.
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>>I am sure that the nice woman on the phone was collecting my name to enable this response - scare tactic
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>>Not that every copy of MS office etc is fully licenced (which it is) but these bullying arround operations, are really a bit much..
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>>Bob Lee
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>After the 'announcement' comes "Louie the leg breaker", aka the BSA, to audit for license violations. If they find any, then comes the big fine, with the option to take the "less expensive" 5 year bulk licensing agreement. We have one person devoted to keeping track of that stuff. Think their salary is figured into the cost of ownership?

Jerry,

The real "bad guys" here are not MS, BSA, or Borland. It is the pirates. MS and Borland have a right to protect there interests. They only want to prevent theft and increase equity for the owners. We should focus on eliminating the "disease". The crazy license agreements are only a symptom. By boycotting Borland you only hurt them. They develop great products. They provide a great alternative for developers.

What if Blockbuster bought one copy of 'Planet of the Apes' and duped it in house and made 250,000 copies for all the stores? Not fair. Nobody would have issues with the Police breaking into BB's headquarters and shutting them down. It's the same deal with here.

My suggestion would be to keep buying Borland and live with the agreement. Keep good records and you should not have issues. Don't penalize Borland for protecting their products from pirates. They are the victims.

BTW, You can't pawn your copy of Kylix. Read the EULA ;)

Thanks,
Dan