licensing type for high volume print: B2C billing, etc

Miles Newlyn

I'm trying to find out if a single desktop license covers use in B2C (Business to Consumer) print environments such as IntelliJet. These are used to print customer bills, bank statements, direct marketing, etc.

I don't think embedding exclusions apply here, and neither do server licenses, since there is a single installation and a single printer.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

Thomas Phinney

In some cases, there is a server involved. But in general, I think you're right; most single desktop licenses don't exclude such a use.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if vendors tried to extract more money here. Although it may be ever more common, this is a very long-established thing. Here your main issue is just sheer volume of printing, and a slow but steady increase in this style of usage.

My guess is that user reaction would be more negative than the reaction to charging extra for ebook licensing was. But that's just a guess, not a prediction.

Tiffany Wardle

As a user I'd agree that it would frustrate me a bit for this to fall under extended licensing. Unlike eBook licenses which make a bit more sense because, in my head, an eBook is similar to embedding in an app. 

Miles Newlyn

I think it really ought to fall under extended licensing, and should be an annual license too. When I license a typeface for desktop use, 'desktop' describes quite accurately the kind of use I'm thinking of.

Thomas, how do you see negative user reaction happening? Users selecting other typefaces, or something else?