Is there really any value in software escrow?
This was the topic of an interesting discussion I had at the Legal Affairs Group meeting of the IT suppliers' association Intellect earlier today.
Given the current climate, you might expect an increase in enthusiasm for software escrow. The idea is that if a software supplier becomes insolvent (or, in some agreements, if they fail to provide adequate support) the source code, which is held by a third party escrow agent, is released to the licensee.
However, the IT lawyers I spoke to unanimously agreed that they had never actually come across an instance of a licensee client obtaining source code from escrow and then using it to maintain their copy of the relevant software.
I have previously spoken to programmers who have said that using software source released from escrow may be unrealistic - it would be a nightmare to try and decipher millions of lines of someone else's code, even assuming that it was complete and fully documented.
Does anyone know of any case study of a licensee who has obtained software source code held in escrow and then gone on to use it to support their installation of the software?
All my company's code is escrowed. You can just go and get it now if you want and take a look, because we're not going bust :-)
http://www.ubuntulinux.com/
Posted by: Stuart Langridge | January 20, 2009 at 08:21 PM
people who are looking for a deeper look on software escrow might find this website useful - articles,tips and FAQs :)
good luck
Posted by: escrow101 webmaster | February 02, 2009 at 10:03 PM