Licensing Information

All Manifold®: software is licensed, not sold, using a standard End User Licensing Agreement. Please read the agreement to be sure you agree with its terms and provisions before ordering software.

Manifold can be used either as a desktop application similar to how desktop applications like Microsoft Word are used, or Manifold can be installed on a web server to GIS-enable web sites using Manifold IMS (Internet Map Server) capabilities built into all Manifold editions except Personal Edition. In both cases, every machine that runs Manifold must have a Manifold license.

All Manifold licenses are licensed and copy protected using one of two mechanisms:

• Standalone licenses, authorized using a Serial number and Activation keys that locks each license to a single computer system. This is similar to how Microsoft Word and other such applications are typically licensed. Manifold licenses acquired in smaller quantities or acquired for use on portable devices use this mechanism.
• Floating licenses, authorized using a Manifold License Server. Manifold licenses acquired in larger quantities will frequently use this mechanism, which requires licensing of the Manifold System License Server product. For details on License Server please see the Manifold System License Server topic in the online version of Help.

Highlights of Standalone Licenses

For a precise statement of licensing terms and conditions, please carefully read the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA), which regulates the license agreement granted users. The following points provide informal guidance to guide users, but do not in any way replace the legal meaning and controlling impact of the EULA.

• One machine, one license, one user - Each machine that runs Manifold or any part of Manifold requires its own, unique Manifold license. A single Manifold license may not be time shared onto remote machines or terminals. This is similar to how most consumer licenses for Microsoft Office operate. For example, if you want to run Microsoft Word on five machines you must have five licenses for Microsoft Word, one for each machine, so that each of your five users can run Manifold on their machine. The one exception to this rule is that a Manifold licensee may install Manifold both on one desktop machine and also on a portable computer used principally by the licensee so long as Manifold is not run on both machines at the same time. You cannot install one Manifold license on one machine and then try to time-share that license (using Microsoft Terminal Server or similar technology) so that more than one remote user can run Manifold.
• No Annual Fee - Manifold licenses are fully paid licenses and are not annual rentals. Once a license has been installed and activated it will continue running forever until a major system change to the machine (major hardware change) or major system software change (new Windows edition installed, roll-back to before installation, etc.) requires use of a new Activation key. A license is a license for five Activation keys.
• No Maintenance Fees - No maintenance fee is required; however, Manifold licenses specifically exclude technical support. Technical support products are available for a modest fee. It has been manifold.net tradition to provide updates/service packs within the same Manifold release level at no charge. For example, updates for Release 7x were provided at no charge. Provision of such updates has been a tradition but may or may not be continued into the future. A Manifold license grants no right to automatic, free access to any service packs or updates.
• Licenses do not include technical support - A Manifold license does not include technical support or free access to any bug fixes. Technical support products may be acquired for a fee. Although it has been manifold.net tradition to provide bug fixes at no charge within published updates for a given release level (for example, free updates to 7x and then later free updates to 8.00), some bugs in a given release will not be fixed except within a new, replacement release, which may require a fee to acquire. For example, some 7x bugs were not corrected until Release 8.00. Upgrading from 7x to 8.00 required a fee.
• Budget for New Release Upgrade Offers - When a major new Manifold Release is published, usually every year or so, by tradition manifold.net has offered for a limited time that new release to licensees of the previous release at a discount. For example, Release 8.00 was offered to licensees of Release 7x for an upgrade fee of $50 during the first 30 days after the publication of Release 8.00. Upgrading a 7x license to Release 8.00 acquired a new serial number and five more activations. Licensees are advised to take advantage of low-cost upgrade offers to assure they have the latest, most improved release and also to assure they do not run out of Activation keys over the years as a result of machine hardware and Windows upgrades.
• Copy protection - Manifold is copy protected using a serial number and Activation key system. A license to use Manifold enables usage only within the copy protection system. Any attempt to circumvent the copy protection system terminates the license. Any disclosure of your serial number or an Activation key on a public forum will terminate the license. Keep your serial number and Activation keys confidential to assure that your license rights are not terminated due to disclosure by someone else.
• One license, five re-installations - A Manifold license is a license to use the serial number issued for that license to install and activate Manifold on a single machine. Each serial number may be used to fetch five Activation keys, allowing an initial installation on a machine and then, in case of need due to hardware failure or system upgrades, up to four more re-installations. Normally, if the Manifold license is honored and Manifold is installed on a single system five Activation keys are plenty. This is especially the case if users take advantage of low-cost upgrades every year or so to upgrade to the next major release and thus get a fresh serial number and five more activations. In normal usage it is almost impossible to blow up a computer more than five times in a year. Users with atypical requirements who require more re-installations will have to pay for additional Manifold licenses to acquire additional Activation keys. For example, users who operate computers in harsh environmental circumstances (such as oil rigs) where the computer is destroyed more than five times a year should budget for the cost of additional licenses. To take another example, users who are negligent in the operation of their computers, such as by failing to utilize anti-virus software, and find themselves having to re-install Windows more than five times a year will also have to spend more money to buy additional Manifold licenses to cover their re-installation needs.
• Five keys do not license five systems - The five activation key that a serial number can fetch do not authorize use on five different systems. They are provided to enable re-installation, if need be, on the single licensed system in case of hardware failure or Windows upgrades. Installing Manifold on multiple systems will terminate the license when simultaneous usage on multiple systems is detected by the auto-revocation copy protection system.
• Academic usage not authorized - Some academic users think that the availability of an Academic License donation program means they can buy a commercial Manifold license and use it on as many machines as they like. This is very wrong and will result in revocation of the commercial license and the institution being "tagged" as a software pirate, resulting in denial of any subsequent applications for an Academic license grant.
• Virtual Machines are Separate Machines - Attempting to install a single Manifold serial number on more than one virtual machine will normally trigger the auto-revocation feature (given enough time) because it is likely that more than one virtual machine will be active at the same time. Manifold may be installed on a virtual machine provided that a separate license is acquired for each such virtual machine.
• Fail safe uses not authorized - Manifold is not licensed for any uses in which the failure of the personal computer software technology employed will risk life, health, property or the environment in case of failure. Note: This exclusion does not apply to weaponized Manifold software licensed through Manifold Military Systems Division licenses.

Highlights of License Server Licenses

For details on License Server please see the Manifold System License Server topic in the online version of Help. Note that the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) also applies. The following points provide informal guidance to guide users, but do not in any way replace the legal meaning and controlling impact of the EULA.

• Simplified Administration - License Server allows installation of Manifold on an unlimited number of machines within your licensed organization without needing to keep track of serial numbers or activation keys for each individual machine. When users launch Manifold on an individual machine the License Server will be consulted to see if a floating license is available. If not all floating licenses are in use, authorization will be granted and Manifold will launch.
• Simplified Deployment - License Server allows Manifold to be deployed using automated means, disk ghosting and similar methods for mass installations. It is also a perfect solution for utilizing Manifold within virtualization environments so that individual, per-machine activations are not used up as virtual machines come and go.
• Large Savings - Floating licenses provide outstanding savings for large organizations. Consider an organization where 500 users might from time to time need to do GIS on their desktops but where experience shows that rarely more than 80 or so users will actually be doing GIS at any one time. Procuring License Server loaded with 100 floating licenses will be much less costly than using standalone licenses.
• Base price for License Server - A License Server license is $1995 exclusive of the cost of floating licenses. A License Server installation will cost $1995 plus the cost of however many floating licenses are desired. For example, a License Server loaded with 100 Enterprise x64 floating licenses will be $1995 + $44500 = $46495. Quantity discounts do not apply to floating licenses. Runtime licenses are not available as floating licenses. Please see the Products page for current pricing.
• Dedicated IIS Machine - License Server operates as a web service within your local intranet using HTML protocol. To operate License Server, you must provide a Windows machine running IIS to host the License Server. You may not serve floating licenses outside your immediate licensed organization.
• Dedicated Licensing - Each License Server machine can host a single Manifold edition. For example, if you would like to administer 100 Enterprise x64 licenses and 10 Universal x64 licenses you will need two License Server licenses (at $1995 each) and two License Server machines.
• No Minimums - Although License Server installations are normally loaded with a significant number of floating licenses to serve the needs of larger organizations, there is no minimum required number of floating licenses. Many customers have procured a License Server license loaded with just one or two floating licenses. The usual reason is that the organization employs one or two GIS experts who require the convenience of working on any machine in the organization. Even with the initial cost of License Server, the combination is still much lower in cost than even a single license of old-fashioned GIS software.
• Easy Procurement and Growth - License Server installations are prepaid by check or wire transfer. Please contact sales@manifold.net for procurement information. Once a License Server installation has been procured, additional floating licenses of that same type may be easily added.

Manifold IMS Usage

When Manifold is installed on a web server, Manifold capabilities can be invoked from a web application to GIS-enable that web application. Please see the Internet Map Server page for details on IMS. In addition to the above comments, the following highlights apply:

• One license per web server - To run Manifold IMS you only need a single Manifold license per web server machine, no matter how many processors are employed by that web server and no matter how many web applications are resident on that web server machine.
• Unlimited hits and client connections - Only a single Manifold license is required per web server machine no matter how many pages or client connections are served.
• No client licenses required - By default, web applications created using Manifold IMS do not require any Manifold software on client machines: all you need is a free web browser like IE or Firefox. Therefore, no Manifold license per client is required. Note: some applications architects may choose to create applications which utilize Manifold software on client machines. In that case a Manifold license will be required on the client machine.

Academic Licenses For Manifold System GIS

Under selected circumstances, manifold.net will consider making Academic License grants to qualified institutions. For information on this donation program, please visit the Academic Licensing page.

Beta Test Licenses

Beta Test Software: From time to time, manifold.net makes beta versions of software available for testing by an extended population of users. Provision of such beta test versions is covered by the Beta Test / End User License Agreement. Please review this agreement before downloading any beta test software that may be provided to you by manifold.net.

Questions?

Please contact us at sales@manifold.net. We would like you to be happy with your licensing of Manifold products, so please do not hesitate to ask any questions before placing an order.