A Decision Framework for Selecting Licensing Rights for Noncommercial Computer Software in the DoD Environment

Abstract

A major acquisition challenge for a program in which computer software is a critical element of the system is the upfront determination of an appropriate licensing rights strategy. This report describes standard noncommercial software licensing alternatives as defined by U.S. Government and Department of Defense (DoD) regulations. It also suggests an approach for objectively identifying agency needs for license rights and the appropriate license type for systems with noncommercial computer software or as standalone software in the DoD environment. There are three standard license types for noncommercial computer software: Unlimited, Government Purpose, and Restricted. Each of these license types for noncommercial computer software conveys different rights to the agency. This report presents distinguishing characteristics of the three standard license types, a method to develop the supporting rationale or traceability for DoD agency needs, a high-level description of circumstances that fall outside of standard license types, and a discussion of the importance of deliverables as necessary components for implementing license rights.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA549398

Entities

People

  • Charlene Gross

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Application Software
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • Intellectual Property
  • Law
  • Software Development
  • Standards
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Software Engineering.