Let’s say that they bought the student edition of Final Cut Pro X for $200.
Here’s how that goes.Ī reseller buys a physical copy of the software (or just an activation code with a retail box) at a college bookstore, paying the discounted student price. Unfortunately, this creates an opportunity for swindlers. Plenty of college courses require specific software for schoolwork, and software makers know that if they can get students acclimated to their products while they’re learning, they’re much more likely to buy full-priced copies for work after they graduate. Software makers like Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe allow college students to buy legitimate copies of their software at steep discounts, typically through their university bookstore or directly on the web. You Might Be Getting Student Licensed Products Also, be wary of any purchase where you only receive an activation code instead of physical installation materials. So, how do you avoid this type of scam? First, as always, remain skeptical of deals that appear just too good. If the seller is caught they could face jail time, and if the company realizes it’s run out of licensed machines before it should have, they might reset the license, at which point the 20 people who used their activation code lose access to the software. This is a violation of the company’s contract, and also grounds for legal copyright violation in most countries. The buyers use the code, not realizing it isn’t unique, and activate the software on their own computers. They then sell the remaining 20 copies at far below market value, sending each buyer the same code used by their company. Our bad employee knows that the tool is only being used on 80 computers.
They get a single authorization code, and are allowed to install the software on up to 100 computers. Say a company buys a database tool with a volume license.
Sometimes, however, unscrupulous employees might try to sell unused portions of the volume license as the real deal. This allows the software seller to offer discounts for volume sales, and lets the IT folks at the company install software quickly and efficiently on large amounts of PCs. The specific terms of the license vary by product, but typically it’s not allowed for the software to be used by anyone outside the company. When making a deal to supply software to a company that might have hundreds or thousands of users, software makers offer a unique license designed especially for those situations. You Might Be Getting Volume or Enterprise Licensed Products If you buy used OEM software, you run the risk of not being able to install it on your system at all. Sometimes, they’ll even sell this software as though it were new, or was not OEM software, but a regular license. Sometimes, people will sell OEM licensed software that has already been used on other hardware. You also need to be especially careful when buying OEM licensed software from used marketplaces or marketplaces without stellar reputations.