Week 13: muddy

This week brought with it a few snags in the form of licensing. I was suprised to learn how complicated the single user agreement is. I always thought that the single user agreement was far more constrictive in nature than it turns out to be. I was under the impressio, before this lesson, that you were not allowed to use a program on another computer if one failed without breaking the law in some way. For example I would not have reused an old copy of windows on a new computer even if no longer used on another computer.

The more I looked into the single user agreement software contracts the more I felt that they were written to be fair to both the users and producers. I think, however, that the average person in college sees no problem with piracy because of the high costs involved in purchasing many of the products that they want. I think that much of this behavior is beginning to change because of the major companies like Microsoft releasing versions of necessary products like word in student and trial versions. I think that this will reduce piracy because it will give people an alternative when they can't afford a retail copy but need to use the program.

The single user agreement makes me feel that I am getting more than I previously thought for my money. I now feel that I have a much improved understanding of the purpose of a single user agreement.