Beware Secondary Software FUD

22 January 2016
2 minute read
Best practice

Beware Secondary Software FUD

22 January 2016
2 minute read

SAM tool vendor Snow Software reports that Adobe has lost a case of reselling secondary software in the USA that has good implications for the US secondary software market.

See: Adobe loses courtroom battle.

It is great to see Snow Software (ITAM Review Tool Provider of the Year 2015 as voted for by customers) joining their ITAM industry peers such as Flexera Software in creating a useful blog with industry news and useful resources.

Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD)

However, I’m disappointed by the following statement from Snow Software on the secondary software market:

Snow says: “SECOND-HAND LICENSING QUESTIONS REMAIN”

No they don’t – The European Court of Justice has declared it legal within certain conditions. The secondary market is in it’s infancy but it is legal and legitimate. See https://itassetmanagement.net/2014/02/13/yes-you-can/

Snow suggesting otherwise sounds like the usual scare tactics of software publishers.

Matt of Snow Software says: “Specialist second-hand software resellers can sometimes be difficult to differentiate from organizations offering outright illegal copies of software, making the concept of buyer-beware very relevant in this market place.”

This is false and seems to be copy and pasted from the Microsoft book of FUD. This is not helpful for organisations looking to make legitimate savings and explore secondary markets. It is these sorts of casual sleights that prevent real savings to be made by customers by taking advantage of secondary markets.

Classic Software Publisher FUD

Classic Software Publisher FUD

Snow Says: “PURCHASING LEGITIMATE LICENSES – It is important that all of your software licenses within your organization are legitimate copies.”

Blending a story about the secondary market with license legitimacy is another classic FUD tactic by software publishers. The secondary market is legitimate and provides a real opportunity for cost saving. Whose side are you on Snow?

Come on Snow, as an industry leader we expect more from you!

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