Friday, March 26, 1999
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Campus Fallout Continues from 1997 Change in Microsoft's Licensing RulesBy JEFFREY R. YOUNG
More than a year after Microsoft made controversial changes in its software-licensing rules for colleges, higher prices for the company's products are prompting complaints on many campuses.
The company changed its policy in 1997, but universities were able to operate under the old rules until their existing contracts expired. At least two institutions whose contracts are coming to an end have heard renewed complaints from students about the increases in the cost of Microsoft products under the new policy. At Harvard University, where a Microsoft contract expires this week, some students are irked because they will no longer be able to run university-owned copies of Microsoft Word or other programs on their personal computers over the campus network, as they have in the past. To use the program, students will have to either buy the software themselves or go to a university computer lab. At the University of Wisconsin at Madison, about 20 students held a rally this month at which they burned -- or, as they put it, "barbecued" -- both Microsoft disks and images of the company's chairman, Bill Gates. The students were upset about a proposed contract between the university system and the company to supply enough copies of Microsoft software for every faculty and staff member. Under the old, "concurrent" licensing rules, Microsoft allowed universities to pay for software based on how many people could use it at a given time, rather than on the total number of computers that would have access to it. For instance, a university might buy 100 licenses for Microsoft Word, a word-processing program, and place the software on a central server on the campus network. Students, professors, and staff members could use Word from any computer on the network, but the server permitted only 100 users to open the program at a time. As a replacement for concurrent licensing, Microsoft wants universities to pay based on the total number of people who have access to the software during the year. The company offers a deep discount to colleges that buy enough software for all faculty and staff members. It also offers a plan to sell colleges enough software for every student. Colleges such as Harvard that don't opt to pay the bulk licensing fees for students can choose to make them buy the software themselves. Early this year, Harvard began posting warnings on its computer network about the changes, which were to take effect on March 31. Franklin Steen, director of computer services for the university's arts-and-sciences faculty, said that only about 200 to 500 students would be affected by the change, since most new computers now come with Microsoft Office software already installed. The university's computer store charges about $150 for student copies of Microsoft Office. Rebecca Needham, a spokeswoman for Microsoft, said that the company hoped more universities would sign campus-wide agreements, which Harvard had declined to do. But bulk purchases of Microsoft software have led to other concerns. John E. Peck, a graduate student in environmental studies on the Madison campus, is a member of the student group that sponsored the recent protest. He said that he was worried that a bulk deal with Microsoft would lead the university to reduced support for software from Microsoft's competitors. Kevin Boatright, a spokesman for the university system, said the university would continue to offer a range of software. He added that Wisconsin hoped to spend less on Microsoft software by getting better prices through the new contract.
Background stories from The Chronicle:
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Copyright © 1999 by The Chronicle of Higher Education