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There are many resellers and sales people that do not understand the intricacies and paradoxes of licensing agreements and sometimes sell software in a way that violates them.
So here is a quick overview. I will be using Microsoft but the fundamentals applies to most large software vendors.
Probably the biggest misunderstanding is that many think that Microsoft sells software. Microsoft doesn't sell software. Microsoft sells licenses. Licenses grant the right to use the software, so long as that use meets the terms of the license.
The three main ways that Microsoft sells licenses are:
1. Retail Boxed software (the ones you buy in shops such as PC World),
2. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) software that usually arrives preinstalled on a computer, and
3. Volume Licensing (where organisations that buy in bulk buy the licenses only, separate from the packaging, CD, support and documents).
The licensing of Retail Boxed is quite different from OEM and both are quite different from Volume Licensing. But there are many that suppose that they are the same. So when they advise the customer this can be bad for the customer.
To illustrate, the only legal way of selling an OEM version of Microsoft Office 2003 to the end user is with a new PC. To sell it in any other way is illegal. Yet some do. One example is an online company that states it is doing its best to stamp out pirates, that it is putting an end to dodgy dealing, and so on. Yet it is offering for sale OEM versions of Microsoft Office 2003 to end users. It does not state that it is OEM. And the picture next to the description is a picture of the retail box version.
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