Home & Student EULA questions

[RichDR71]

The EULA for Home & Student (H&S) includes the following:

"The software is not licensed for use in any commercial, non-profit, or
revenue-generating business activities."

The more I think about this statement, from a non-profit perspective,
the more I find it unclear. Okay, I get it about not using Home &
Student for a home based business. No problem.

My question has to do with volunteer work from home for a non-profit,
such as a church. Here are a few scenarios I'm sure to encounter:

What happens when someone from church writes up a document on Word (H&S)
at home to be handed out at church? Does that constitute use in a
"non-profit . . . activity?" What if a Sunday school teacher uses
OneNote to prepare a lesson, that she prints up for herself on Word?
What if a volunteer musician makes a list of songs for use in Church
using Excel? What if a youth group makes a report on their mission trip
using PowerPoint? If these violate the EULA, how many folks are going to
violate the EULA unaware? What should I, as their pastor, tell them
about what they may/may not do with the H&S edition?

Suppose a church volunteer secretary answers email for the church and
opens up and prints Word Doc's sent to her by the denominational office
using H&S. Is that a violation of the EULA? What if someone takes home
the notes of an official meeting and types them up at home using H&S?
Does that violate the EULA? Should I, as a pastor, advise everyone in
church to not use H&S for any church work, even as volunteers? I can't
tell by just reading that one sentence over and over again.

Or should I read this to mean "non-profit . . . business activities?" If
"non-profit business activities" is not an oxymoron, I would take that
to mean activities to promote the organization, such as fund-raisers,
advertising, etc. Is that enough? Ought that to include communication
within the organization? Official/non-official? What if the organization
has no employees, no office space, but only at-home volunteers? Help me
out here!

It basically boils down to this question: what constitutes a non-profit
(business) activity? The EULA doesn't help, nor does a dictionary. The
FAQ only mentions "commercial activities" (which, in my dictionary,
excludes non-profit activities). So no help there.

I have looked high and low for an official answer to these questions,
but can't get one anywhere. I can't afford a lawyer to help me
understand the EULA (and I shouldn't have to).

I'm hoping some MS MVP, or an official representative of MS can answer
these questions.

Thanks,
Trying to do the right thing here,

Rich DeRuiter

 

[Bob I]

My opinion is that the "non-profit" organization or their employees, may
not purchase/use it. A person using it in their home, and using it to
generate a document on their own time would not be in violation. If the
document was then given to the non-profit then no harm/no foul. If the
person was to be compensated for that document production OR was
reimbursed for the software purchase, THEN you would have a violation.

HTH

 

[RichDR71]

Bob,

What you say makes sense to me, but it's not what the EULA says. If
that's what MS wants to say, why not say "Not for purchase by business
or non-profit organizations, or by individuals who will use this in
their work for their business or non-profit organization." That would be
clear. The EULA isn't.

--Rich

Bob I composed at the keyboard on 3/6/2007 12:07 PM:

My opinion is that the "non-profit" organization or their employees, may
not purchase/use it. A person using it in their home, and using it to
generate a document on their own time would not be in violation. If the
document was then given to the non-profit then no harm/no foul. If the
person was to be compensated for that document production OR was
reimbursed for the software purchase, THEN you would have a violation.

HTH

Th

 

[Bob I]

Ok, from the top. This is a user to user newsgroup, anything stated here
is pure opinion. If you want to "argue EULA language" get a lawyer and
take it up with Microsoft, otherwise, use your best guess as to what it
reads. If you want to hang on the interpretation of every word in the
EULA, it's your choice, but I wouldn't waste the time splitting hairs.

"The software is not licensed for use in any commercial, non-profit,
or revenue-generating business activities."

If you want to be really picky, based on your interpretation, you may
not use it to type up recipe cards on your laptop while sitting in the
park.

 

[RichDR71]

Bob,

You expressed your opinion, I expressed mine.

There are MS MVP's here and I hope MS is monitoring this newsgroup. A
logos MVP answered a similar question I had asked earlier. I asked this
one here because I can't afford a lawyer and shouldn't have to. A EULA
should be understandable by a person with average intelligence--or even
a software consumer. I have a post-graduate degree. You'd think I'd be
able to understand this.

--Rich

Bob I composed at the keyboard on 3/7/2007 6:37 AM:

 

[Tom Willett]

If MS wanted the EULA to be easy-to-understand by users, the lawyers would
be out of a job ;-)

Tom

| Bob,
|
| What you say makes sense to me, but it's not what the EULA says. If
| that's what MS wants to say, why not say "Not for purchase by business
| or non-profit organizations, or by individuals who will use this in
| their work for their business or non-profit organization." That would be
| clear. The EULA isn't.
|
| --Rich
|
| Bob I composed at the keyboard on 3/6/2007 12:07 PM:
| > My opinion is that the "non-profit" organization or their employees, may
| > not purchase/use it. A person using it in their home, and using it to
| > generate a document on their own time would not be in violation. If the
| > document was then given to the non-profit then no harm/no foul. If the
| > person was to be compensated for that document production OR was
| > reimbursed for the software purchase, THEN you would have a violation.
| >
| > HTH
| >
| > RichDR71 wrote:
| >
| >> The EULA for Home & Student (H&S) includes the following:
| >>
| >> "The software is not licensed for use in any commercial, non-profit, or
| >> revenue-generating business activities."
| >>
| >> The more I think about this statement, from a non-profit perspective,
| >> the more I find it unclear. Okay, I get it about not using Home &
| >> Student for a home based business. No problem.
| >>
| >> My question has to do with volunteer work from home for a non-profit,
| >> such as a church. Here are a few scenarios I'm sure to encounter:
| >>
| >> What happens when someone from church writes up a document on Word
| >> (H&S) at home to be handed out at church? Does that constitute use in
| >> a "non-profit . . . activity?" What if a Sunday school teacher uses
| >> OneNote to prepare a lesson, that she prints up for herself on Word?
| >> What if a volunteer musician makes a list of songs for use in Church
| >> using Excel? What if a youth group makes a report on their mission
| >> trip using PowerPoint? If these violate the EULA, how many folks are
| >> going to violate the EULA unaware? What should I, as their pastor,
| >> tell them about what they may/may not do with the H&S edition?
| >>
| >> Suppose a church volunteer secretary answers email for the church and
| >> opens up and prints Word Doc's sent to her by the denominational
| >> office using H&S. Is that a violation of the EULA? What if someone
| >> takes home the notes of an official meeting and types them up at home
| >> using H&S? Does that violate the EULA? Should I, as a pastor, advise
| >> everyone in church to not use H&S for any church work, even as
| >> volunteers? I can't tell by just reading that one sentence over and
| >> over again.
| >>
| >> Or should I read this to mean "non-profit . . . business activities?"
| >> If "non-profit business activities" is not an oxymoron, I would take
| >> that to mean activities to promote the organization, such as
| >> fund-raisers, advertising, etc. Is that enough? Ought that to include
| >> communication within the organization? Official/non-official? What if
| >> the organization has no employees, no office space, but only at-home
| >> volunteers? Help me out here!
| >>
| >> It basically boils down to this question: what constitutes a
| >> non-profit (business) activity? The EULA doesn't help, nor does a
| >> dictionary. The FAQ only mentions "commercial activities" (which, in
| >> my dictionary, excludes non-profit activities). So no help there.
| >>
| >> I have looked high and low for an official answer to these questions,
| >> but can't get one anywhere. I can't afford a lawyer to help me
| >> understand the EULA (and I shouldn't have to).
| >>
| >> I'm hoping some MS MVP, or an official representative of MS can answer
| >> these questions.
| >>
| >> Thanks,
| >> Trying to do the right thing here,
| >>
| >> Rich DeRuiter
| >
| Th

 

[Bob I]

MVP's are users that have provided helpful information over the past
year and are recognized as such by Microsoft for their volunteer
contributions, they do not represent Microsoft. We have no authority
given or implied, and MS only "monitors" this group for the purpose of
removing scams and spam. I believe the main problem is you are trying to
split the hair too fine. What is it you don't understand?