Thank you Charles, this is very useful information. We discussed a couple of the scenarios you describe, opting not to bother with this.
Dean Sent from my iPhone > On May 8, 2014, at 6:31 PM, Charles Mills <charl...@mcn.org> wrote: > > The usual term for this is "source code escrow." A third party holds the > code with a contract that says that if the vendor goes out of business or > fails in some way then you get the source code. The third party charges, and > so the vendor may charge you. > > There are two or three HUGE problems with source code escrow: > > 1. Thing about your own programs. You hire a guy or gal. You sit him or her > down with all of the documentation and relevant tools and help from your > experienced people. How long before he or she is productive? Three months? > Now, suppose this vendor product blows up and it turns out the vendor is out > of business. You are going to go to court, get the software from the escrow > agent, get the necessary platforms and tools -- and fix the bug, all quickly > enough to make a difference to your business? > > 2. Unless you have an elaborate verification process, what if you get the > source code and discover that through malice or oversight, the source code > is five versions back out of date and missing three critical include files? > > 3. A contract that says "we will do X in the future" -- in this case, give > you access to our source code -- is what is called an "executory contract." > Bankruptcy courts are very reluctant to enforce executory contracts because > the whole point of bankruptcy is tear up whatever came before and give the > debtor a fresh start. > > Charles > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On > Behalf Of Dno > Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 1:18 PM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Vendor Source Code > > Hi, > >> We're looking to purchase a sw product and our lawyers are looking at the > t's and c's to see if we can have the right to their source code. At my > previous job we did this for BMC, we kept it at IMAR. I guess I never > understand why, so I'm asking if anyone our there does this and for what > reason. If the company went out of business what would the source code do > for us? Would we give it to another third party to maintain for us? I > appreciate the feedback. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
