Conditions for Commercial Distribution of Kermit Software

THIS PAGE IS HISTORICAL.  BEGINNING IN 2011, THE KERMIT PROJECT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IS NO LONGER TAKING ORDERS FOR SOFTWARE, LICENSES, SUPPORT CONTRACTS, OR BOOKS. KERMIT 95 BULK LICENSES MAY BE ORDERED FROM COLUMBIA TECHNOLOGY VENTURES. OTHER SOFTWARE IS OR WILL BE AVAILABLE UNDER AN OPEN SOURCE LICENSE. CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION.

Kermit Development and Distribution
Columbia University Academic Information Systems
New York, NY, USA

1 January 2002

This document supersedes the documents of the same name with earlier dates, and all other earlier statements of terms and conditions, including those found in Kermit manuals and other documentation published prior to the date shown above. This document will be updated from time to time as new software and manuals become available, or when pricing or other conditions change. Revised 20 September 2004 to include Embedded Kermit.
Kermit software is distributed and supported by Columbia University. The nonprofit Kermit Project is self-sustaining, funded by income from licenses and sales.

Except where permitted by the license of a specific Kermit software program, Kermit software may not be distributed, remarketed, bundled, embedded, adapted, given away, or otherwise redistributed by commercial enterprises to their customers, clients, prospective clients, or anyone else external to their organization without a license to do so from the Kermit Project at Columbia University. Commercial distribution includes, but is not necessarily limited to, bundling of Kermit software with hardware or software products; furnishing Kermit software to institutions, government agencies, or corporations under contract; including Kermit software on CD-ROM distributions of any kind (except when explicitly permitted); inclusion of Kermit software by Internet Access Providers in software kits provided to their customers; embedding of Kermit software in industry-specific applications such as medical claims submission packages; or any other arrangement in which Kermit software is furnished to customers, clients, or prospective clients for any purpose.

EMBEDDED KERMIT

Embedded Kermit is designed to be incorporated into other software as a "subroutine" that implements the Kermit file transfer protocol, or indeed, embedded in devices and chips that require a compact but efficient and reliable file-transfer method. It is not available for download and must be licensed. For further information, send email to kermit@kermitproject.org.

KERMIT 95

Kermit 95 is the Kermit software for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and OS/2. Since all copies of Kermit 95 must be licensed, whether for own use or redistribution or resale, the conditions for furnishing Kermit 95 to customers or clients are automatically fulfilled when you license it for that purpose. CLICK HERE for Kermit 95 Pricing and Licensing Options.

C-KERMIT AND MS-DOS KERMIT

C-Kermit and MS-DOS Kermit software are not in the public domain. They are copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. They may be downloaded for own use, or for use within one's own organization, and under certain conditions can be redistributed without explicit license, but in general can be redistributed only under the following conditions (in which the "supplier" is the company, organization, or person who is doing the redistributing):
  1. The supplier must purchase license seats in sufficient quantity to cover the number of copies of the software that will be deployed. As of 1 January 2002, a new commercial redistribution ("omnibus") license goes into effect, which is far less expensive than the previous one (which required a book to accompany each copy of the software). The new license is exactly like the Kermit 95 Bulk Right-to-Copy License, except that each seat may be fulfilled with Kermit 95, C-Kermit, or MS-DOS Kermit, according to each computer's operating system. Thus this license is appropriate for sites with a mixture of platforms, or in which operating systems change (e.g. DOS upgraded to Windows; Windows replaced by Linux), but it can be used just as well for a site that needs only C-Kermit or only MS-DOS Kermit. CLICK HERE for the new order form. The minimum size for an omnibus license is 100 seats. To license a smaller number of copies, order them individually in the desired quantity: Kermit 95, C-Kermit, or MS-DOS Kermit.

  2. The supplier must provide support to its users or customers. In turn, the Kermit Project supports the supplier.

  3. Source code is included with or available for C-Kermit and MS-DOS Kermit, but not Kermit 95. The supplier must not modify the Kermit software source code without consent of the Kermit Project at Columbia University. If changes are needed, they must be coordinated through Columbia University so they can be supported and carried forward in new releases. The supplier can, of course, produce tailored initialization files, command files, macros, scripts, tip sheets, and similar material that does not involve changes to the Kermit software source code.

  4. The supplier must not modify, remove, or obscure any copyright notices or disclaimers that appear in the software or documentation.

  5. All standard disclaimers apply, in particular those that accompany each Kermit software program. In general, the supplier acknowledges that the Kermit software and documentation are provided as is; no other warranty is provided, express or implied, including without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Neither the supplier nor the end-users shall hold liable the authors of any Kermit software programs, publications or documentation nor Columbia University, Digital Press, Manning Publications, nor any other contributing institution or individual for program or documentation errors.

  6. Suppliers in the United States of America and Canada are subject to USA and Canadian law and treaties, in particular regarding export of strong encryption algorithms and software. It is the supplier's responsibility to conform to all applicable regulations and statutes.

OTHER KERMIT VERSIONS

Kermit software other than Kermit 95, C-Kermit, and MS-DOS Kermit that are in release and on the Kermit Project Web and FTP site as of the date of this document (examples: Kermit-370 for IBM mainframes; Kermit-11 for PDP-11s) may be redistributed without explicit license, but any changes to the source code should be cleared through the Kermit Project. This clause does not necessarily apply to Kermit software releases that might appear in the future.

SOURCE CODE

Companies may license Kermit source code for purposes of adapting it to, or integrating it into, products or services. Contact the Kermit Project's Business Manager to negotiate the terms of the license. However, it should be emphasized that this course is not recommended in environments where an existing Kermit program can operate on its own, since your product will not be able to benefit from bug fixes and improvements that take place afterwards, nor can it be supported by us. Most versions of Kermit software are easy to embed in other applications, so please think twice before choosing a source code license.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, contact:

Frank da Cruz, Manager
The Kermit Project
Columbia University
612 West 115th Street
New York NY 10025-7799
USA

Telephone: +1 (212) 854-3703
Fax: +1 (212) 662-6442
Email: kermit@kermitproject.org

Kermit Commercial Policy / Columbia University / kermit@kermitproject.org / 1 January 2002