7.6.4 Practice Questions
Which of the following does the GPL prevent you from doing with an open-source software program?
> Sell a license to use the program Explanation: The GPL (General Public License) prevents you from selling a license to use the program, as the GPL allows free access to anyone. The GPL allows anyone to access the source code, to modify the source code, and even sell a contract for technical support.
Which of the following is one way that developers and organizations who produce open-source software can generate revenue from the software?
> Training contracts Explanation: Open-source software must allow its source code to be freely available to anyone without licensing fees or agreements, but developers can offer training contracts to teach users how to use the software and generate revenue from the training contracts. Persistent and one-time activation license are for proprietary software. Enterprise licenses are also for proprietary software.
Your organization has 20 employees who need an accounting software update installed. Due to a miscommunication, the purchaser only paid to update 10 licenses. The software company issued a paper license and a single key for updating 10 users. Since this is an enterprise paper license, there is no mechanism that enforces a limit to the number of times the key can be used, so you decide to go ahead and update all 20 users. What are the possible consequences of this decision? (Select two.)
> You risk losing your job. > You expose your company to litigation by violating the software license agreement. Explanation: Circumventing license agreements exposes your company to litigation and puts your job at risk. Even without a mechanism for tracking the number of users that are using the software, the enterprise agreement limits the number of licenses that you are legally entitled to use. Using more licenses than you are entitled to is an act of theft. Your best course of action is to pay for 10 more licenses. The software company is likely to learn of the violation. One way they can learn of violations like this is when your users have to register their copies of the software to receive support, patches, and bug fixes. Since there is no mechanism that enforces a limit to the number of times the key can be used, the software will probably continue to function. The one to three activations per user usually pertains to the personal software licensing model or is meant to be used when users have more than one computer on which they need to install the software. These activations are not meant to be shared with other users.
Which of the following is true of online software activation? (Select three.)
> Before running a newly installed application, the user must activate their license online on the software vendor's website. >With personal software licenses, the limit is usually one to three online activations. >Persistent activation may require the license to be continuously re-activated online at a preconfigured interval. Explanation: Online software activation process features include: - Requires users to activate their software online with the vendor before they can run a newly installed application. For personal software licenses, the limit is usually one to three activations. - Allows the software vendor to track how many times each license code is activated and to block further activations after the license limit has been met. - Can be done as a one-time activation. With one-time activation, the license is activated once, usually right after the product is installed. Once activated, the product remains activated. - Can require persistent activation. With persistent activation, the license is continuously re-activated online at a preconfigured interval. This allows the software vendor to deactivate installations if the conditions of the license agreement have been violated. - Can be affected by operating system upgrades or migrations, which can deactivate the software. Online activation technology does not keep track of the number of times the license code is activated, even when persistent activation is implemented.
Which type of contract are you typically required to accept when obtaining a proprietary software license?
> EULA Explanation: When obtaining a proprietary software license, you are typically required to agree to an End User License Agreement (EULA), which is a legal contract detailing the terms of use between a software application author or publisher and the end user of that application. GPL stands for the General Public License, which requires the source code of open-source software programs to be available to anyone for free. The PRD is the Product Requirements Document, which is basically a blueprint for designing a new software program that specifies exactly what the product will do. DMCA is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is a copyright law that made it illegal to create or distribute technologies that can circumvent DRM programs or systems.
Which of the following is a software license that allows 100 or more activations?
> Enterprise license Explanation: An enterprise license (also known as a volume license or a corporate use license) is designed to allow a large volume of activations for a lower cost per activation than purchasing personal use licenses. Personal licenses typically only allow one to three activations per license. The General Public License protects open-source software program from proprietary actions, meaning that open-source software programs are required to allow anyone access to the source code and the program for free. A public domain license is also designed to keep open-source software source code freely available to anyone. This code can be modified without restriction. There are no activations needed, as it is freely available.
One software license model allows software to be freely distributed, downloaded, and installed without paying a license fee, but often requires a fee for support, training, or added functionality. What is the name of this model?
> Open source Explanation: Open-source software used to be exclusive to Linux and Unix operating systems. However, many open-source applications are now available for Windows and Mac. Open-source licensing is very different from proprietary licensing in that: Open-source software is usually freely distributed. You can typically download, install, and use the software without paying a license fee. Some open-source projects release a base version of their software for free, but then charge a fee for highly desirable add-ons. Some open-source projects release their software for free, but then charge a fee for technical support. As with support contracts, some open-source projects also provide training for a fee. Personal, enterprise, and proprietary are all associated with the proprietary software model, which is always associated with a license fee. Persistent is associated with a type of activation used with the proprietary software model.
A software vendor has had recurring problems with customers misusing their proprietary software. Which of the following technologies can give them the MOST control in regulating who, how, and when their software is being used?
> Persistent license activation Explanation: With a persistent license activation, the license is continuously re-activated online at specified intervals. This allows the software vendor to deactivate installations if the conditions of the license agreement have been violated. Digital fingerprinting identifies unique properties of a file and compares them to a database of fingerprinted files to track access to materials. This can help in identifying copied materials, but would not give the most control to stop continued misuse. Digital watermarks embed traceable information into files. This can help identify copied materials, but would not give the most control to stop continued misuse. One-time license activation activates a program one time and stays active. This would provide the least control.
Your organization has 75 workstations that each need a software program installed. Which of the following is the BEST choice to accomplish this?
> Purchase an enterprise license for the software program and reuse the activation code for each workstation. Explanation: The best choice is to purchase an enterprise license for the software program that allows 75 installations. Generally, this will give you one activation code that can be used 75 times. This would be the most cost-effective, legal choice. Purchasing 75 personal license would almost always be much more expensive than buying the enterprise alternative. A personal license usually only allows one to three installations for the activation code. Purchasing one personal license for the software and then searching online for additional activation codes provided by third parties or activation code generators is illegal. Choosing this route could expose your organization to litigation and could cost you your job.
Which of the following is true of the way many large digital media vendors use Digital Rights Management technology today? (Select two.)
> They are adopting alternatives to DRM, such as encouraging customers not to illegally share digital files. > They are moving away from DRM because of several key shortcomings in the technology. Explanation: Many large digital media vendors are moving away from DRM because it has several key shortcomings, including: - A lack of portability. For example, DRM-protected digital files from a given vendor only play using software or hardware from that same vendor. - A lack of backup support. DRM protection frequently made it such that protected digital files could not be backed up. - Weak encryption. Many applications are available on the internet that can strip DRM protection from digital files. - Risk of obsolescence. Some older digital files are no longer playable on newer hardware. To address these shortcomings, many vendors have adopted DRM alternatives, such as: - Encouraging customers not to illegally share digital files. - Making digital files so inexpensive and easy to access that it does not make sense to make illegal copies.
