Lastly, I assume everyone knows this, but it bears mentioning: the license of MS Office Student & Teacher editions prohibits use for any commercial activity. Just because you work at home for a traditional job or run a SOHO business from your home doesn't entitle you to use the less expensive version of MS Office to get your work done. That's theft, no matter how you pretty it up to justify it.
I agree with the general thrust of your point about paying for intellectual property, but what should one do if it's 90% home and 10% office? Or, "commercial activity" in a pinch?
Install the more expensive version just to be on the safe side?
I agree with the general thrust of your point about paying for intellectual property, but what should one do if it's 90% home and 10% office? Or, "commercial activity" in a pinch?
Install the more expensive version just to be on the safe side?
Nobody, not even Microsoft, would prosecute someone using a Student/Teacher version of Office in a pinch. They've always been quite generous about letting you install the full version from work on a home computer. I've always jokingly said that Microsoft would rather you use a pirated version of Office that a legal version of someone else's software, simply because sooner or later it will pay off for them, even if only through keeping the product alive with the people you file share with.
However, even a really small business can afford the cost of a legal version of an office suite, regardless of brand. My personal business is an incorporated, one-person document-producing subcontractor. I've worked for companies as small as a retired lady who sells used paperback books and another who rents Disney character cake pans for moms to make birthday cakes for their kids. I've also had great contracts with mega-billion dollar corporate giants.
In order to do the work I offered, I bought legal upgrades to CS3 and Office 2004 for Mac, even though I already owned MS Office 2002 for Windows. (Buying the Mac version allowed me to speed up my work process by staying on one platform for a project.) I probably could have got away with using the cheaper "Student" version, but it wouldn't be legal. I wouldn't jeopardize the legitimacy of my business (or my ethics) for a couple hundred bucks. I wouldn't want someone to screw me out of $200 on a contract just because they could. Why should I do any different?
Using unlicensed or illegally re-purposed software (like an educational version instead of commercial license) for your business is the same thing as using Anne Geddes' copyrighted photos in a brochure or putting an unlicensed Rolling Stones track on a local Midwestern company's TV commercial, just because you're pretty sure the owners won't see your work.
Snicker at my ethics all you want... I'm not the one who's gonna be stuck burning in Hell using Foxpro on Windows 98 to track copyrighted photos.
Comments
Lastly, I assume everyone knows this, but it bears mentioning: the license of MS Office Student & Teacher editions prohibits use for any commercial activity. Just because you work at home for a traditional job or run a SOHO business from your home doesn't entitle you to use the less expensive version of MS Office to get your work done. That's theft, no matter how you pretty it up to justify it.
I agree with the general thrust of your point about paying for intellectual property, but what should one do if it's 90% home and 10% office? Or, "commercial activity" in a pinch?
Install the more expensive version just to be on the safe side?
I agree with the general thrust of your point about paying for intellectual property, but what should one do if it's 90% home and 10% office? Or, "commercial activity" in a pinch?
Install the more expensive version just to be on the safe side?
Nobody, not even Microsoft, would prosecute someone using a Student/Teacher version of Office in a pinch. They've always been quite generous about letting you install the full version from work on a home computer. I've always jokingly said that Microsoft would rather you use a pirated version of Office that a legal version of someone else's software, simply because sooner or later it will pay off for them, even if only through keeping the product alive with the people you file share with.
However, even a really small business can afford the cost of a legal version of an office suite, regardless of brand. My personal business is an incorporated, one-person document-producing subcontractor. I've worked for companies as small as a retired lady who sells used paperback books and another who rents Disney character cake pans for moms to make birthday cakes for their kids. I've also had great contracts with mega-billion dollar corporate giants.
In order to do the work I offered, I bought legal upgrades to CS3 and Office 2004 for Mac, even though I already owned MS Office 2002 for Windows. (Buying the Mac version allowed me to speed up my work process by staying on one platform for a project.) I probably could have got away with using the cheaper "Student" version, but it wouldn't be legal. I wouldn't jeopardize the legitimacy of my business (or my ethics) for a couple hundred bucks. I wouldn't want someone to screw me out of $200 on a contract just because they could. Why should I do any different?
Using unlicensed or illegally re-purposed software (like an educational version instead of commercial license) for your business is the same thing as using Anne Geddes' copyrighted photos in a brochure or putting an unlicensed Rolling Stones track on a local Midwestern company's TV commercial, just because you're pretty sure the owners won't see your work.
Snicker at my ethics all you want... I'm not the one who's gonna be stuck burning in Hell using Foxpro on Windows 98 to track copyrighted photos.