Last week we concluded our little series on free-anti-spyware and even had a free anti-virus thrown in there for good measure along the way. We may continue later with a series on free anti-virus software, but not for now, unless it is requested by popular opinion.

What I want to be sure about is that everyone has an understanding of software licensing. If you don’t know what I am talking about you soon will when you read on.

You know those pesky little windows that come up when you are installing software and ask if you “agree” or “disagree” with the licensing terms or something to that affect? Yes, that stuff that almost no one reads at all, and we just click “agree” so we can get the software installed and start using it.

I am here to tell you that if you run your own home based or small business and use free software you are still required to follow the license agreement you agreed to when installing it.

So what is a software license? From Wikipedia a software license “is a legal instrument governing the usage and redistribution of copyright protected software.” Just because software is given away for free does not mean you are not beholden to the licensing agreement.
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Please read through these agreements and the big thing is pay attention to how many computers you are allowed to load your free software on. Typically my experience is that most free software allows you to load it on up to three computers.

Just like with software you pay for at the store or online, you can get yourself in big trouble legally if you do not follow the agreement you made when installing the software.

That concludes this post, if you have any requests please contact us.


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