Unilateral audits, risky terms - Meet the LiveCode EULA
Another big concern - Unilateral audits, official and de facto. an evaluation said "you should NOT accept this as-is" - I agree; impossible until several issues improved. audits - old fashioned, risky; better models available. LiveCode recently requested my feedback. took a while; health. My focus - the new terms. Meet the LiveCode Create EULA - https://livecode.com/eula Key audit risks - 1. Scope - very broad. "8.1 LiveCode reserves the right to audit your use of the Software ... You agree to provide access to all relevant records and cooperate fully with LiveCode's audit team." “All relevant records” is undefined. Could include anything - Internal systems, Customer/client data, Financial records, Source code/logs, etc. No confidentiality/effort/cost guardrails. NDAs, ethics. No handicap / health / accessibility protections. No tech, trade or personal data protections. open ended. data vacuum + non govt bureaucracy = Deal breaker! and continual de facto auditing - "7... technical methods of tracking seat and app usage." "3.2 ... the revenue generated by your app each month" uploads! more data vacuum, pseudo bureaucracy, risk, busywork. old fashioned; better subscription level models now. clear and obvious; no need to pry or spy. 2. Audit costs shift to you - "If the audit reveals under-licensing, you agree to promptly purchase additional licenses to cover the shortfall and reimburse LiveCode for the cost of the audit if the under- licensing is found to be more than 5% of the licensed amount." evaluation - red flag. 5% - low bar. No cap on costs. No requirement/incentive that costs be reasonable. No requirement for an independent/honest auditor! 3. All subjective. "8.2 In the event of non-compliance ... in the event that such non-compliance is not promptly remedied to the satisfaction of LiveCode Ltd" risks - Whatever-we-say approach; tilted in their favor - Whoever runs LiveCode now, and later. Interpretation could change. key point - NOT worried about my -actual- usage, but I have seen LC stubbornly inaccurate / arguably dishonest several times. Even evading / delaying payment. That matters too. Even misrepresenting terms before. That matters; live and learn. No dispute resolution. They alone decide - What counts as under-licensing / non-compliance - What counts as “remedied” - Whether your fix is adequate 4. remedy? pay up AND / or kill switch! separate kill switch email. but evaluation said "Red-line clause to watch most closely - > remove access to any apps built This is the most dangerous sentence." want data vacuum, pseudo bureaucracy, pry and spy? as for me - I will not accept that situation. ethically and physically impossible. Nor be slandered as unruly for pointing it out! not the echo chamber type. LiveCode - audit the stuffy audit stuff out of the EULA. that would increase your market potential. hope this requested advice will help improve LC. Happy Holy-days of Christ's Mass! Best wishes, Curry Kenworthy "Dominate documents with WordLib and LC" https://livecodeaddons.com/wordlib.html (Still recuperating from illness - comments limited.) _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list [email protected] Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
