Many people have been asking questions about the exact legal situation of
the free BITNET licenses after a site leaves BITNET. I hope the following
helps clarifying the issues.
Eric
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This document contains a short description and clarification of the legal
and operational issues surrounding the termination of BITNET services,
and their impact on recipients of free LISTSERV and/or LMail licenses.
The representations made in this document apply only to BITNET sites
which were granted a free LISTSERV-NJE and/or LMail license from Eric
Thomas. In other words, if you had to pay for LISTSERV before being able
to use it, this does not apply to you.
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* The parties *
***************
From 1986 to 1993, a large number of universities and other academic
sites worldwide were granted free licenses for the use of LISTSERV-NJE
and/or LMail on VM systems ("free licenses"). It is important to
understand that these licenses were granted by Eric Thomas, who wrote the
original software and owned all rights to its distribution, and not by
L-Soft international, Inc. ("L-Soft"), which sells and supports current
versions of the product.
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* The license agreement *
*************************
The LISTSERV and LMail distributions sent to the recipients of free
licenses included an electronic license agreement, outlining the
conditions under which the software could be used. There were several
versions of this license agreement, as it was updated from time to time
to reflect user concerns. The version of the license agreement that
applies to you is the one that came with your original shipment, or, at
your option, the version from a more recent shipment than the one you
received.
Questions are often brought up about the enforceability of these
electronic agreements. This is something that only a lawyer can provide
an answer to, and which probably depends on the recipient's country and
state, on the date at which the license was granted and the state of
shrinkwrap legislation at this particular point in time, etc. It is not
possible to give a simple, universal answer to this question. The only
thing which is clear is that these licenses were between Eric Thomas and
the recipient - not between L-Soft and the recipient. Because L-Soft is
not a party to this agreement, it cannot answer questions about its
interpretation, other than to point out that it is not a party to the
agreement.
*********************************************************
* How are my legal rights affected when I leave BITNET? *
*********************************************************
Here again, the answer probably depends on jurisdiction and date of
acquisition. Eric Thomas has indicated that he believes the language of
the license agreements causes the licenses to terminate when you leave
BITNET. Your jurisdiction may or may not support this claim; only a
lawyer can advise you.
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* Will L-Soft sue me if I continue to use LISTSERV anyway? *
************************************************************
L-Soft does not have any legal grounds to sue you, because L-Soft is not
a party to the license agreement and does have any rights under this
agreement. Only Eric Thomas can sue you with any hope of winning the
case.
**********************************************************
* So what happens if I don't migrate to LISTSERV-TCP/IP? *
**********************************************************
As far as L-Soft is concerned, it is a technical fact that the NJE
version of LISTSERV requires a NJE network for proper operation. When you
leave BITNET, this will no longer be the case and you will be running the
product in an unsupported environment. L-Soft cannot guarantee proper
operation in an unsupported environment, nor can it sell you maintenance
for such a configuration. Again as far as L-Soft is concerned, you will
be free to continue using the the software as long as you wish, but
L-Soft will not help with any problems that you encounter, nor will it
provide new versions, fixes or technical assistance. There will be no
refund of prorated maintenance fees, if any such fees had been prepaid,
because switching the software to an unsupported environment is a default
of the customer's under the maintenance agreement you have with L-Soft.
On the other hand, if you migrate to LISTSERV-TCP/IP, L-Soft will prorate
your unused LISTSERV-NJE maintenance and apply it as a credit towards
your LISTSERV-TCP/IP maintenance. Since the rates are the same, this
means you only need to pay for the license upgrade. For more information
on LISTSERV-TCP/IP, just write to [log in to unmask]
*************************************************
* Will EARN sites get LISTSERV-TCP/IP for free? *
*************************************************
The maintenance contract between L-Soft and EARN expired in July 1995.
Since then, EARN sites have been in roughly the same legal situation as
BITNET sites without a maintenance agreement. Terena decided not to
pursue negotiations with L-Soft regarding the renewal of the EARN/L-Soft
contract and its possible extension to cover the TCP/IP product line, and
consequently the former EARN sites will only receive new versions and/or
new products if they purchase them directly from L-Soft.
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