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From a different point of view, I don't see using PR to have lower fees very ethical. It looks to me like "lower our fees, or we are gonna trash you in our PR,

From a different point of view, I don't see using PR to have lower fees very ethical. It looks to me like "lower our fees, or we are gonna trash you in our PR, and you know we have a good reputation".

rootsofallevil 7y ago
I guess it depends on whether CERN merits academic status or not. If it does, then this is fine. If it doesn't then I agree. It seems to me that CERN is a research institute but whether that is counted as an academic institution, from a licensing POV, is a different question
- jhbadger 7y ago
  As somebody who has worked at research institutes in the US, this comes up a lot. Some companies say that an academic user must have an e-mail address ending in ".edu" (which in the US means a school or university), but others define it more broadly to include non-profit research institutes as well. It gets murky because many research institutes actually have grad students doing their projects there (even if they are officially enrolled at a university elsewhere).
carwyn 7y ago
High end tech procurement is more like your average market stall haggling than you might imagine. It tends to be the middle ground that's most stable.
Spooky23 7y ago
Have you ever negotiated in a contested deal with a big company? They get way nastier than PR pieces.
chucksmash 7y ago
What's unethical about "if you do something we don't like, we're going to talk about it"? What would the more ethical alternative be? To just take the deal on offer or silently move on?
dv_dt 7y ago
That seems something of a double standard, companies are encouraged to use any legal means possible to improve profits, but customers need to stay silent about poor terms?
- kretor 7y ago
  The parent didn't encourage companies to use any legal means necessary. You can't know their stance about this.
gonzo41 7y ago
I don't think that really holds water. The ethical thing for the researchers is to drive down costs everywhere they can to get the most money spent on research. M$oft wants to maximize it's profits and is negotiating from a position of strength knowing that big enterprise integrations can't just say "f-this, were off to use ubuntu".
- bbarn 7y ago
  Funny how advice on this site is always "Charge what it's worth!" or "Don't be afraid to charge for your product!", unless of course, it's someone who's already made it, like Microsoft, and then it's the tired 20 year old "M$" meme again.
  - jgoodhcg 7y ago
    There is a difference between advice for a lifestyle business and critique of a fortune 50 company.
tyingq 7y ago
I didn't read any trashing. Just a general note that the current commercial terms aren't sustainable for them.

rootsofallevil 7y ago

I guess it depends on whether CERN merits academic status or not. If it does, then this is fine. If it doesn't then I agree. It seems to me that CERN is a research institute but whether that is counted as an academic institution, from a licensing POV, is a different question

jhbadger 7y ago
As somebody who has worked at research institutes in the US, this comes up a lot. Some companies say that an academic user must have an e-mail address ending in ".edu" (which in the US means a school or university), but others define it more broadly to include non-profit research institutes as well. It gets murky because many research institutes actually have grad students doing their projects there (even if they are officially enrolled at a university elsewhere).

carwyn 7y ago

High end tech procurement is more like your average market stall haggling than you might imagine. It tends to be the middle ground that's most stable.

Spooky23 7y ago

Have you ever negotiated in a contested deal with a big company? They get way nastier than PR pieces.

chucksmash 7y ago

What's unethical about "if you do something we don't like, we're going to talk about it"? What would the more ethical alternative be? To just take the deal on offer or silently move on?

dv_dt 7y ago

That seems something of a double standard, companies are encouraged to use any legal means possible to improve profits, but customers need to stay silent about poor terms?

kretor 7y ago
The parent didn't encourage companies to use any legal means necessary. You can't know their stance about this.

gonzo41 7y ago

I don't think that really holds water. The ethical thing for the researchers is to drive down costs everywhere they can to get the most money spent on research. M$oft wants to maximize it's profits and is negotiating from a position of strength knowing that big enterprise integrations can't just say "f-this, were off to use ubuntu".

bbarn 7y ago
Funny how advice on this site is always "Charge what it's worth!" or "Don't be afraid to charge for your product!", unless of course, it's someone who's already made it, like Microsoft, and then it's the tired 20 year old "M$" meme again.
- jgoodhcg 7y ago
  There is a difference between advice for a lifestyle business and critique of a fortune 50 company.

tyingq 7y ago

I didn't read any trashing. Just a general note that the current commercial terms aren't sustainable for them.