Policy-driven licensing model for component software

Abstract

Today, it is almost inevitable that software is licensed, rather than sold outright. As a part of the licensing policy, some protection mechanisms, whether hardware, legal or code-based, are invariably built into the license. The application of such mechanisms has primarily been in the realm of off-the-shelf, packaged, consumer software. However, as component-based software gradually becomes mainstream in software development, new component-oriented licensing systems are required. We propose an enterprise component licensing model for the management of software component licenses. The model provides a comprehensive license management framework allowing for extensibility and flexibility. Furthermore, we identify differences between standalone software and component software, describe a high level model for policy-driven component licensing, and discuss both the benefits and drawbacks of the enterprise component licensing model for the management of software component licenses.