One of the goals of the CREN software acquisition effort is to protect its members from the rampant greed of monopolists. For those considering doing business with a company that operates in the style of L-Soft, the following advice may be helpful. 1. Look at Schedule "C" of the CREN/L-Soft Agreement. That schedule states the prices L-Soft was proposing to charge CREN members before the Listproc acquisition was announced. At that point in time, the CREN transition plan from NJE to IP was presumably hostage to an IP version of LISTSERV. 2. Be wary of prices to be set later when they have "more experience". For example, if a maintenance price is to be set later, and you're committed at that time, you may be subject to the rules described in item number 1. 3. Get a complete definition of what a perpetual license means that distinguishes between a new release and a new product. For example, remember LISTSERV VM-TCP/IP is a new product requiring a new license, not an upgrade from LISTSERV VM-NJE. 4. Remember that dropping CREN membership will result in your removal from the BITNET routing tables. 5. In the next few weeks there may be some CREN announcements that will help you get an even better deal. Watch BITNEWS. Kenneth M. King Executive Director, CREN