CompuServe Thread

Maurice…I'm not a lawyer but from what I have heard, you can't even give away older versions of software that you have upgraded. You should check the licensing agreement or call the company. Some will allow it if it is donated to a charitable organization. Hope this helps. -Larry

Maurice, I don't have Microsoft Developer but do have Knowledge Base and the Microsoft License Agreement that came with it. It states that you "may not rent or lease the CD-ROM PRODUCT (sic)." It makes no mention of giving it away, or of selling it for that matter. You may well find some agreements to be so restrictive that you cannot give discs away (Computer Select comes to mind) but they are still relatively rare. For the most part the licences seem to place cd-rom discs in roughly the same category as books, with the singular exception of electronic dissemination. Many stipulate that while you own the actual disc, the company retains ownership of the program on it. (One I like is one of my encylopedias which, technically, forbids me from accessing my own disc on my own home computer from my own computer at my own cottage. I ignore that one.) In actual fact few manufacturers would want to take a public stand against software (especially *old* software) being donated to a charity. Imagine the headline: Company X Raids Seniors Center Searching For Donated Obsolete Material. And The Computer Press Association recommends donation to charities as a worthwhile way to dispose of old review copies of programs since it is considered unethical to sell material that was sent free for review. I think there comes a time when even lawyers will admit that common sense should prevail. Hope that helps. Cheers!