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Dak, I know your not a Novell shop, but I do want to throw ZenWorks out there. It is one of the best tools I've ever seen for dealing with audits (it can do hardware and full software audits). Additionally, it is great for doing things like pushing out software, customizing desktops, etc. I do have one questions though -- do your users actually have permissions to install their own software? It's pretty uncommon these days for non-IT shops to have ANY access to install software on their own computers to help out with this situation. You remove the end-user from that audit all together. I don't want to speak for MSU (and I am not MSU's legal council), but in the outside world, the employer is responsible for what goes on within their owned equipment. Employees are generally seen as an extension of the 'company', and are legally allowed to act on its behalf. If an action is disallowed by the employer, they can sometimes use that to shift blame to the employee. Either way, a good AUP that allows you to set additional policies to MSU's general AUP, specific to your department is not always a bad idea. At the very least, it allows you to clearly communicate with your users what you feel is the policies on how they should use MSU owned equipment on campus. -Nick ________________________________ From: Aldrich, Dak [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, September 10, 2010 5:11 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MSUNAG] Software License Audit documentation Good evening. I’m in need of some documentation. I have been asked to produce documentation on the responsibilities of the College IT Department vs. the End User in the case of a software license audit. If illegal software is found on the machines, who is ultimately responsible? Who is the law going to come after? The end user that installed it? Or the department that didn’t properly ensure that their machines contained ONLY legal software? My immediate thought would be that the end user would be held responsible. However, I don’t know for sure. My boss has requested physical documentation to this matter. Up until recently, we did not have any agreement signed by users. We now have one that states they will not install illegal or unlicensed software. Does that actually, however, remove any responsibility from the College, should the faculty pirate software? Thanks for any documentation that anyone can point me at! Thanks! -dak aldrich -college of music [log in to unmask]<https://mail.pplant.msu.edu/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx> ________________________________ This message is only for the intended recipient(s). If you are not the named recipient you should not read, distribute or copy this email. Any views or opinions expressed in this email are those of the author and do not represent those of Michigan State University or the College of Music. Any information obtained from or contained in these emails is confidential. No information will be shared or given to any persons outside of the appropriate department(s).