Mathematica licensing questions
Jason Grout
but the topic seems interesting to sage-devel)
As William suggested in the thread
http://groups.google.com/group/sage-support/browse_thread/thread/869d28652835e50/85f6a02f7a1d82a8?lnk=gst&q=license+agreement#85f6a02f7a1d82a8
on sage-support, I emailed Wolfram about some licensing questions about
Mathematica. Below is my email to them and their response back to me.
Jason Grout via RT wrote:
> To whom it may concern:
>
> I have some questions clarifying the terms of the Mathematica license.
> It has recently been brought to my attention the details of the
> "Prohibited Uses" section of the license agreement. To better
> understand Wolfram's position, can you clarify any legality problems
> with any of the following situations? I am assuming a Single-User
> license (except for item #3). If a situation is not allowable under the
> single-user license, can you tell me if there is another license that
> allows the situation?
>
> 1. Running Mathematica on a Linux box, I SSH or Telnet into the computer
> and use the command-line interface to do some calculations, exactly as I
> would if I were physically sitting in front of the machine.
>
> 2. Interfacing with Mathematica using a secure web-based notebook (for
> example, like Sage; http://www.sagemath.org), I run some calculations.
> In doing this, I am careful that I am the only one able to access
> Mathematica (using passwords and possibly also encryption), so it is
> security-wise the same as if I SSH or Telnet into the machine.
>
> 3. Allowing faculty/students at a university with a site license for
> Mathematica to access Mathematica, either locally, through SSH, or
> through a secured web-based notebook. Note that they have access to
> Mathematica on most any university computer because of the site license.
>
> 4. Typing ??Function and seeing and examining the source code of a
> function that was implemented in the Mathematica language. I realize
> this isn't possible for many functions, but bundled add-on packages may
> expose the definitions through the ?? operator.
>
> 5. Unprotecting and redefining an operation in Mathematica, say addition
> (this seems silly to be illegal, but part (e) of the prohibited uses
> section seems to forbid this).
>
> Thank you for your time,
>
> Jason
>
Mr. Grout,
* When someone purchases a single user license, a Named User can be
designated to go with that license. The Named User is permitted to
access the host machine via ssh or telnet and use the Mathematica
functionality.
* With a site license, accessing Mathematica functionality remotely is
permitted so long as the originating computer is eligible to have
Mathematica installed under the same site license.
* To enable access of Mathematica functionality via a web browser,
webMathematica is required. webMathematica Amateur is a free benefit of
premier service.
* ??Function will provide information on the function, but does not
expose the source code used to build that function.
* You may create your own functions in Mathematica, but cannot overwrite
the built in functions. To redefine a built in function, one convention
is to use a small letter to name your function. For example, Plot is
built in and could not be modified, but you could create a function
called plot.
If you have more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Another resource is our customer and technical support, found at
http://support.wolfram.com/, where they can help answer questions
regarding capability and functionality.
Thank you,
Patrick Buller
Wolfram Research, Inc.
William Stein
OK, that makes sense.
> * With a site license, accessing Mathematica functionality remotely is
> permitted so long as the originating computer is eligible to have
> Mathematica installed under the same site license.
That very surprising. This means that I can't sit down at my home computer,
ssh into the UW math department, and use Mathematica. Unbelievable.
I can't really believe this -- it would mean that many many faculty violate
the Mathematica license agreement regularly. Wow.
> * To enable access of Mathematica functionality via a web browser,
> webMathematica is required. webMathematica Amateur is a free benefit of
> premier service.
Is this a technical or legal answer? Given that you point out that there
is a technical way to do this that isn't webMathematica, we must assume
it is a legal answer, i.e., that this says "any way to run Mathematica" via
a web browser is illegal if it isn't via webMathematica. That's what
we thought the license agreement said.
By the way, webMathematica pro is very expensive -- it seems to
definitely be >$5,000 with an academic discount (it is hard to get a price,
as most places say you must call for a quote). And it is not anything
like the sage notebook. Their FAQ says: "
"Q: Can I use webMathematica for the same calculations for which I
use Mathematica?
Any calculation done in Mathematica can be done using webMathematica,
with two noteworthy limitations. First, when using webMathematica, you
will not have access to the full capabilities of Mathematica's front
end. Second, license restrictions may prohibit you from enabling
certain calculations when you use webMathematica.
Q: Does webMathematica make your browser work like a Mathematica notebook?
No, webMathematica does not offer notebook simulation through a
browser. However, noninteractive front-end functionality is
accessible. Technology will be available in the future to link a
client-side notebook front end through the web to a webMathematica
server."
Should we put up a disclaimer regarding using Mathematica via the Sage
notebook. If so, where it should go? The purpose of the disclaimer
would be to:
(1) reduce our liability (???),
(2) increase awareness among mathematicians about the freedoms they give
up by building their live's work on Mathematica.
Really (2) is the only one that makes real sense, because regarding (1) we
would have to talk to a lawyer, etc., for it to have any real meaning.
> * ??Function will provide information on the function, but does not
> expose the source code used to build that function.
So is he just saying that you are completely wrong about what you think ?? does?
Strange, since I doubt that.
> * You may create your own functions in Mathematica, but cannot overwrite
> the built in functions. To redefine a built in function, one convention
> is to use a small letter to name your function. For example, Plot is
> built in and could not be modified, but you could create a function
> called plot.
Wait -- given your question -- is he really claiming that by typing this
I just violated the license agreement???
In[3]:= Unprotect[Plot];
In[4]:= Plot := 5;
In[5]:= Plot
Out[5]= 5
> If you have more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
> Another resource is our customer and technical support, found at
> http://support.wolfram.com/, where they can help answer questions
> regarding capability and functionality.
>
> Thank you,
> Patrick Buller
> Wolfram Research, Inc.
>
>
> >
>
--
William Stein
Associate Professor of Mathematics
University of Washington
http://wstein.org
Joel B. Mohler
> > * With a site license, accessing Mathematica functionality remotely is
> > permitted so long as the originating computer is eligible to have
> > Mathematica installed under the same site license.
>
> That very surprising. This means that I can't sit down at my home computer,
> ssh into the UW math department, and use Mathematica. Unbelievable.
> I can't really believe this -- it would mean that many many faculty violate
> the Mathematica license agreement regularly. Wow.
I don't think it's amazing at all that people violate the written license
regularly. When you really sit down and read the windows eula carefully, you
conclude that it's difficult *not* to break the license. I'd also suspect that
many of you break your personal isp terms of service quite regularly (running
servers -- ssh -- and such).
Welcome to America ... land of the lawyers.
--
Joel
Justin C. Walker
On Dec 21, 2007, at 12:51 , William Stein wrote:
> On Dec 21, 2007 9:43 AM, Jason Grout <jason...@creativetrax.com>
> wrote:
>> (cross-posting because the thread originally appeared on sage-
>> support,
>> but the topic seems interesting to sage-devel)
>>
>> As William suggested in the thread
>> http://groups.google.com/group/sage-support/browse_thread/thread/
>> 869d28652835e50/85f6a02f7a1d82a8?lnk=gst&q=license
>> +agreement#85f6a02f7a1d82a8
>> on sage-support, I emailed Wolfram about some licensing questions
>> about
>> Mathematica. Below is my email to them and their response back to
>> me.
>> * With a site license, accessing Mathematica functionality
>> remotely is
>> permitted so long as the originating computer is eligible to have
>> Mathematica installed under the same site license.
>
> That very surprising. This means that I can't sit down at my home
> computer,
> ssh into the UW math department, and use Mathematica. Unbelievable.
> I can't really believe this -- it would mean that many many
> faculty violate
> the Mathematica license agreement regularly. Wow.
I'm not sure what the site license says. Wouldn't a faculty laptop
be covered?
Justin
--
Justin C. Walker, Curmudgeon at Large
Institute for the Absorption of Federal Funds
-----------
If it weren't for carbon-14, I wouldn't date at all.
-----------
William Stein
A faculty laptop is covered. However, when "I sit down at home at my
home computer", I'm not using my laptop. I'm using an imac I bought.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
William
Justin C. Walker
On Dec 21, 2007, at 13:50 , William Stein wrote:
> On Dec 21, 2007 2:25 PM, Justin C. Walker <jus...@mac.com> wrote:
>> On Dec 21, 2007, at 12:51 , William Stein wrote:
>>> That very surprising. This means that I can't sit down at my home
>>> computer,
>>> ssh into the UW math department, and use Mathematica. Unbelievable.
>>> I can't really believe this -- it would mean that many many
>>> faculty violate
>>> the Mathematica license agreement regularly. Wow.
>>
>> I'm not sure what the site license says. Wouldn't a faculty laptop
>> be covered?
>
> A faculty laptop is covered. However, when "I sit down at home at my
> home computer", I'm not using my laptop. I'm using an imac I bought.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sorry; I really meant whatever computer the faculty member uses
(during the normal course of "business"). If you use your home
computer, are you covered by the site license? That's more or less
the way I've seen it done in the past.
Justin
--
Justin C. Walker, Curmudgeon at Large
Institute for the Absorption of Federal Funds
-----------
I'm beginning to like the cut of his jibberish.
-----------
William Stein
>
>
> On Dec 21, 2007, at 13:50 , William Stein wrote:
> > On Dec 21, 2007 2:25 PM, Justin C. Walker <jus...@mac.com> wrote:
> >> On Dec 21, 2007, at 12:51 , William Stein wrote:
> [snip]
> >>> That very surprising. This means that I can't sit down at my home
> >>> computer,
> >>> ssh into the UW math department, and use Mathematica. Unbelievable.
> >>> I can't really believe this -- it would mean that many many
> >>> faculty violate
> >>> the Mathematica license agreement regularly. Wow.
> >>
> >> I'm not sure what the site license says. Wouldn't a faculty laptop
> >> be covered?
> >
> > A faculty laptop is covered. However, when "I sit down at home at my
> > home computer", I'm not using my laptop. I'm using an imac I bought.
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Sorry; I really meant whatever computer the faculty member uses
> (during the normal course of "business"). If you use your home
> computer, are you covered by the site license? That's more or less
> the way I've seen it done in the past.
I stand corrected. The site license is here:
https://www.washington.edu/uware/mathematica/#details
and it says "Faculty and academic staff may use the software on their
home machines at
no cost unless they are currently enrolled as a student".
So it would only be a problem for me to say visit my parents (like I'm
doing right now), sit
down at their computer, ssh to campus, and use Mathematica.
-- William