Henri,
If the OP was talking about selling a used computer to someone else,
i.e., a one-off sale of used property a la "I don't need this computer
anymore so I'm going to try to get a few bucks off of it to offset the
cost of its replacement," then you are right, that's not commercial use.
If, on the other hand, the OP was talking about selling computers as a
profit-making enterprise, and including Picasa pre-installed on the
computers sold for that purpose, then I assure you that you are
incorrect in your interpretation of both the law and Picasa's license
agreement.
As I said in my last message, if there were no value in pre-installing
Picasa, then there would be no reason for the OP to do it before selling
the computers. Therefore, /ipso facto/ there is commercial value in the
Picasa installation, either in terms of making the product more
attractive to potential buyers or in terms of being able to charge a
higher price for it. That value makes such use of Picasa commercial,
and as such, the OP would have to get permission from Google to use
Picasa in that way.
As for charging someone for performing the service of installing Picasa
on his computer, that would clearly and unequivocally fall under the
license wording requiring permission if you want to "sell... any
services... associated with or derived from the Picasa software."
Installing Picasa is clearly a service associated with Picasa.
There are two choices: you can games trying to skirt around the terms of
Google's license agreement, or you can do your best to honor the intent
of the agreement. I know which choice I'd make, but in a world where so
many people seem to think that stealing movies and music is OK, I can
understand how the correct choice might be less obvious to others.
Jonathan Kamens
P.S. It's JonathAn, not JonathOn. Thanks.
On 02/19/2010 02:33 PM, mhenriday wrote:
Jonathon, I find your interpretation of the Picasa commerical use
clause intriguing, but inaccurate. Selling the *computer* is hardly
making commerical use of *Picasa*. The installer presumably installed
Picasa on the computer to use it himself - note the phrasing «sell a
computer that has Picasa on it» not «sell a computer on which I've
installed Picasa to make it more commerically attractive». As I
pointed out above, the OP can sell the computer without Picasa
installed, then install Picasa as a service to the purchaser - nothing
in the Picasa license would indicate that helping someone else to
install Picasa, even if one were paid for one's time, is to be
construed as «commercial use». My suggestion is that unless you can
provide an authoritative statement from Google to the effect that
«Picasa» - or for that matter, the Google Toolbar, etc, must be
removed from a computer prior to its being sold to another party, you
cease scaring people unnecessarily....
Henri
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