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Hello!
You've probably come to this page either because you're a potential Safelog user or an existing user who has seen a message in the software indicating that your activation period is expiring soon or has expired and is interested in knowing more about the terms of license of Safelog.
Your first reaction upon hearing this topic may well be this: "why does it have to be so complicated? Why can't I just buy the software?"
To answer this, consider the following three potential characteristics of some software
- software that would let you install it on any PC, without restriction, indefinitely.
- software that would let you get all the latest updates and versions for free whenever they come out (and the software is in active development, so there are many changes to talk about)
- software that would let you use it indefinitely without any time limit
Clearly, in some sense, we'd like all three characteristics in any software we buy. However, virtually no serious software of any sort is licensed in this way, since this is unsustainable.
At most, you get two out of three. For example:
- when you buy a typical Microsoft™ product, such as a copy of Microsoft Windows™ or Office™, you are only allowed to install it on ONE PC. When that PC gets old, it is virtually impossible to transfer it to a new machine. Furthermore, when a new version comes out (such as the next release of Microsoft Office), they make you pay for it.
- when you buy a game at the software store, your CD-Key lets you install it on only one PC. While the game may have a patch or two in the months immediately following its release, your purchase certainly doesn't entitle you to getting a cutting-edge version of the game every year until the end of time. Even if it is not explicitly stated, for all practical purposes this way of selling software is both time limited and computer limited.
When deciding on a licensing scheme for Safelog, we took the following into consideration:
- Safelog is very much a living, breathing product.
Existing users know that you can typically expect dozens of, often significant, upgrades in a
typical year.
These changes are typically not simply patches to fix minor bugs and make minor adjustments (though we do those too).
Rather, we are routinely introducing significant pieces of new functionality in the software that are akin to major
version upgrades in other software.
We have a full-time team working on Safelog.
- Our users have shown an
unquestionable desire to have access to the latest features that we have developed.
We agree with this - we certainly don't want to keep people using older versions with the theory that "well,
you can have that if you pay for the next version." This is impractical, too, given how often we
update Safelog. We want you to have the latest and greatest features and functionality just as soon as we can
create and deliver it to you.
- Our users have shown the desire to be able
to want to move Safelog between PCs or to use it on multiple PCs for their own personal
use without penalty. For the busy pilot on the road, this is certainly understandable.
This is why we came to the licensing structure that we did. It is meant to provide pilots the flexibility they want, while allowing us to fund the continual upkeep and upgrade of the software. It's a fair structure, and virtually no matter how you look at it, Safelog comes out offering many more features and superior ease of use, while being considerably less expensive for you than any other serious pilot logbook software or web based solution out there, period.
Ok, so how does it work?
When you unlock Safelog for the first time, you have purchased a time-limited license. During the time of your license (at the time of this writing, most licenses are three years) you are welcome to use the software for your own personal use. You are welcome to install it (within reason) on more than one PC, including, for example, if you get a new PC. You are even welcome to use it (again, as long as its for your own personal use) on more than one PC at a time, such as on your home and work PC. Furthermore, you can always get access to the latest available versions, free.
When your license period expires, you are encouraged to
extend this by buying a license extension. License extensions are available in a number of years, where if you purchase
longer terms, the price is cheaper. If you don't extend your license, the software will basically revert to a
locked state: you can still VIEW your logbook data in the main view mode, but most other functionality will be
restricted. Don't expect to be able to do very much at all with the software while it is in this 'reverted to locked'
state. Please also understand that without exception, when your license period is over, it is OVER.
Even if you need to make a small change, you will need to purchase a license extension. Sorry
to be so direct in this, but we think it's most fair to all of our users to be consistent in this policy.
Do I have to wait until my license
is almost expired to buy an extension? Or will this be wasteful?
Safelog warns you in about the 30 days before your license is due to expire. However, you can extend your license at any time. For example, let's say you still have 1.5 years left on your license, but today you buy a 5 year extension pack. Our system will simply append the additional years to your license. So, you will then have 6.5 years of license left. It's simple and fair. You can buy extensions at any time.
I don't remember this provision when I initially registered Safelog.
A (fortunately very, very small) number of people have written to us over the years with the notion that they don't remember seeing these terms at the the time of their purchase (licensing) of
the software. The reality is that
Safelog has a plain-English, not-legalese terms of license which you must explicitly agree to (must have explicitly agreed to) to have licensed the software in the first place.
Along with the plain-English description of the license there, there were further links to help clarify any questions you have, including links to contact us should something
still not be clear. We strive to make our licensing clear and fair to all involved. Perhaps you don't now recall having agreed before, but the reality is that the terms were in fact made
very very clear at the time of your transaction and you had the ability to not go through with the transaction if you did not
find our proposition suitable to your needs.
You guys are holding my data hostage!
ABSOLUTELY NOT. You are welcome to use the import/export features during your licensed period to get your flight data out of Safelog if you do not wish to extend your license. Indeed, the situation is quite the opposite - we are now forced to win back your business at the end of your license period by providing regular updates an a continuously competitive product. Of course, many of you recognize that we have been doing this for a while anyway, but compare this to the large numbers of 'dead' logbook programs out there. Many of you have come to Safelog after having struggled with an increasingly obsolete product where the initial developers lost interest. Did you know? Safelog was the FIRST major logbook software to offer both import and export functionality - before we came along, companies typically just
kept your data in a proprietary format that you were in effect locked-in to with no real export capability. Fortunately, the situation has now changed a bit in the case of some, but
by no means all of our competitors.
I'd like to make a comment about this policy ...
Soon after we activated the previously unenforced license limits, we received the following note from one of our users:
[The new version] is installed, and is looking good! You have a great piece of software here! As such, I'm not at all concerned by the checking of license durations - as a matter of fact, I think you've been selling this too cheap as it is and have wondered when you'd start enforcing the license limits. You obviously need reasonable money to keep developing Safelog further, so it's only fair and square that us regular users have to renew our licenses from time to time!
Alas, not all users are so understanding.
We recognize this, and as such our helpdesk team has their flak jackets on, so to speak, to help that small percentage of users who will feel wronged by our present enforcement of our long stated policy. Look, we understand that nobody likes to pay money. However, the reality of the situation is that not only were the license terms stated at the time of purchase, but we have up to this date given many or most of you far more in terms of license period than we originally promised. We understand that this has led to a complacency of sorts where some of you may have forgotten about the terms of sale and have simply come to expect free and unlimited additional usage and upgrades indefinitely and some of you may have confused in your minds the terms of use of our GroundSchool or other products where there is indeed a lifetime personal use license granted. As such, our helpdesk staff will read and consider any comment you'd like to (politely) make, though in all likelihood you will be directed back to this page for answers, as, unless you raise a fundamentally new issue, it is our position that the issues are addressed here.
While beta testing this license enforcement functionality,
we found that our users were understanding and in fundamental agreement with our position once all the
facts were laid out. We worked carefully with our users to discuss with them how they thought the
license expiration should work, since we had a few choices. Ultimately, the path we chose was the
one favored by most pilots. At the end of the day, you are welcome to export your flight data from Safelog and transition into some other product if you are truly unhappy. We hope you don't leave us, but we do ask for your understanding that we have at all times tried our best to deal fairly with the situation and we hope that any initial frustration that you may feel because of this new license scheme will subside and you will come to recognize that all we want is a fair deal for you, us, and all of our current and future users.
Don't forget - Safelog works out cheaper
We know that you would just as soon do without some message in some software in effect asking you for money. We wish we didn't have to do this. However, we also suspect that you'd also like us to continue to improve Safelog and to give you the flexibility and features that you want. We therefore thank you for your understanding of this license policy. Please do keep in mind that at the end of the day Safelog is the best logbook software out there. We want to keep it this way and we also want to keep the price reasonable. At the time of this writing, given some reasonable assumptions, Safelog costs much less than its next closest serious competitor - a product with far fewer features. We again thank you for your understanding.
A few invalid arguments:
A few people have tried these 'arguments' with us. Our rebuttal is indicated in non-bold text.
- Yes, but I had a copy of (some software product - a user suggested MS Windows 98 to us) which I installed on several PCs and this was never a problem. If you were, back in the day, installing, for example, MS Windows 98 on multiple PCs without a valid license for each, then you were engaging in software piracy. Perhaps this was out of genuine ignorance on your part or you did it simply because you felt that you could get away with it. Regardless, what you were doing was not appropriate, and certainly does not set some sort of bizarre precedent as to why you should be allowed to have your way with ours or any other software.
- Can't I just downgrade to an old version? First, technically we have no real mechanism for downgrades. It's just not technically possible. However, more to the point, your asking such a question is missing the larger picture. The issue isn't that "before there wasn't a defined license period but now there is." There ALWAYS was. The difference now is that we are simply enforcing it fairly. You would still be bound by the IDENTICAL licensing provisions were you using an old version - such a move does not get you around such provisions in any way.
- Yes, but Microsoft Office allows you to install it on up to three PCS!. One user kept insisting on this to us. Even though it has no specific bearing on anything
else here, it goes to show just how "sure" some people can be while simultaneously being so very, very wrong. Standard licenses of Microsoft products are strictly single-device
licenses, period. Don't believe us? Do an internet search for terms such as "Microsoft Office License agreement" and you'll run into the relevant pages on Microsoft's site.
There, you can find out things such as that section 1 item 1 of current (at the time of this writing) MS Office licensing agremeents read:
1. OVERVIEW. These license terms permit installation and use of one copy of the software on one device.
If you have any questions whatsoever, first please try reading the Safelog Licensing - setting the record straight document and, if that
doesn't help you out, we are happy to answer your concerns personally via our helpdesk.
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