topic Re: Big Brother.... in Installation & Licensing Forum

Big Brother....

wabashengineer — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 20:21:06 GMT

I received an email early this morning! See below.......

From: noreply_software-review@autodesk.com [mailto:noreply_software-review@autodesk.com]
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2017 3:08 AM
To:
Subject: [Request Notification] Your Autodesk Software Review

Dear Autodesk Customer,

As part of Autodesk's on-going Software Asset Management Program, your company has been selected to undergo a software compliance audit. This process will help ensure your organization's installation and use of Autodesk products and services is compliant with applicable licensing agreements,

Please perform an inventory of your deployed Autodesk software and provide the required information in the Autodesk Software License Review Portal within the next 10 days.

The portal is located at https://software-review.autodesk.com/. Your company's unique registration code is "edited"

A user Guide, FAQs, and other resources are available on the portal to guide your company through this process.

If you have any issues with the portal, please contact an Autodesk Software Asset Management Consultant at 1-844-458-0763.

Autodesk would like to thank you for your continued business. We value our partnership and believe that our joint attention to software compliance will strengthen this relationship going forward.

Yours Sincerely,

The Autodesk Software Management Team
www.autodesk.com

Please do not reply to this email. Replies to this email will not be responded to or read.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This email transmission is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the information contained in this transmission is strictly PROHIBITED. If you have received this transmission in error, please destroy the original transmission and its attachments without reading or saving in any manner. Thank you.

I just have no desire to allow ANY company to snoop around on my computer(s) to "see" if I am in compliance! I paid a lot of money initially for the seats of software from Autodesk and continue to pay them for the maintenance for those seats. Now they are wanting to "VERIFY" that I am in compliance? I have to go through their website to get serial numbers and activation codes to install the software. If I wasn't running legal,why would I pay for their products in the first place?

As an Inventor of processes and products, I deal with confidentiality of ALL of my clients. I think I will ask Autodesk to sign a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) before allowing ANY scan on my network.

Jim Trail

This is a public forum, please refrain from posting serial numbers or personal information

Edited by
Discussion_Admin

Re: Big Brother....

Mark.Lancaster — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 19:19:03 GMT

Hey @TravisNave care to comment about this?

Update: @wabashengineer Although you may have license related to Inventor this is not a Inventor issue or a discussion for the Inventor forum. This should be posted over in the Installation and Licensing forum. I will have the moderator move it.

Re: Big Brother....

kris — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 19:26:00 GMT

I'm pretty sure that there's something in the terms that defacto allow Autodesk to do this sort of thing. I've always heard lore to this regard, but never actually seen it happen. Good to know that Autodesk does in fact think that its users are crooks.

I mean... really... how in the hell do they think they can get a real sense of what's out there? If you were looking to deceive, you'd just disconnect those machines, or uninstall the software for the scan. Unless they want to install something that's running permanently on your network, but that already exists... the desktop app. Maybe they'll send a bunch of guys in dark sunglasses, with dark suits, to your place with a nice big probe, and ask you to bend over. Studios the world over have isolated networks.

Hey, Autodesk.... you DO know that most pirates don't have any legal software, right? You do realize that the more onerous your anti piracy systems, and the more painful you make it for actual paying customers, the more likely it is that your paying users simply won't pay any more, yes? On top of the subscription debacle, it's just ... astonishing.

And an NDA at the very least, Jim. They need to show you EXACTLY what data they're taking away. Your customers are your priority, not Autodesk's insecurities.

Kris.

Re: Big Brother....

mdavis22569 — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 19:27:09 GMT

I've dealt with SAM's quite a few times ... (probably once every 2 months )

https://www.autodesk.com/company/license-compliance/software-asset-management

It doesn't really snoop at your pc or files. It checks your networks for ADSK software.

It's not just about protecting the software for them, but for you too. Someone could have giving you stolen serial numbers / licenses.

Did you use a reseller or online store?

Re: Big Brother....

TravisNave — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 19:46:57 GMT

Yep, this is a legit SAM audit. Basically, Autodesk will ask you to run a report using their software to gather your Autodesk installations in your enterprise and they will use that data to determine if you are in compliance with the license agreement.

I perform this exact same audit. It is in Autodesk's right to do so. It's probably best that you comply. If you think you have anything out of compliance now, you might wanna tidy up.

Re: Big Brother....

wabashengineer — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 19:51:37 GMT

My initial purchase and all dealings have been through a reseller.

How do they do that without checking every file?

As for the SAM’s, I’m not interested in protecting Autodesk’s Assets. I am interested In protecting my assets which include the software I purchased from Autodesk. I rightfully purchased the seats that I have, and intend on using them for my benefit within the original terms and agreement. I would not re-distribute and or sell my copies of my Autodesk software to anyone! I paid too much money (Over $35,000 to date) to Autodesk. If I were running illegitimate software, why pay in the first place. I am a small company with (2) employees. I have (2) seats of software that we use.

It just seems to keep coming……First they ask for my perpetual license back, now they want to make sure I’m in compliance…..

Autodesk should be more concerned about the pirated versions readily available on the internet. Not what a PAYING CUSTOMER is doing!

Re: Big Brother....

TravisNave — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 20:00:05 GMT

The SAM process has nothing to do with your files or intellectual property. The auditing software is run from a central location, such as a server, and interrogates the computers on your network, by means of Active Directory, IP address, etc. so as to obtain the proprietary licensing codes from the Autodesk registration on each machine. Then it compiles that data into a report. It does not need any access to any personal files on a workstation. Basically, all it does is create an XML file that shows if AutoCAD or other product is installed, its version, and serial number. That's it. It is not intrusive to any users and users can continue to work without knowledge of the audit even running.

Re: Big Brother....

dgorsman — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 23:12:34 GMT

Kinda curious where people think those illegal copies come from. Oh yeah - paying customers, with less than scrupulous employees. And trying to enforce illegal downloads on the internet? Can we say futile activity?

If someone actively complains about the cost of the program, there is *definitely* an incentive to cheat and have extra pirated versions precisely because of that "I already pay _____, I deserve them" attitude.

Not everything is about piracy, however. For example you could have multi-seat stand-alone (MSSA) licenses. There is no limit on how many stations you can have active, although there is a technical limitation in the contract e.g. you have 5 seats but you could have 10 installs. This will pick that up and ensure you aren't accidentally in violation. Lets say you have high staff turnover, or there's a bunch of buggered up installs which need redoing, so you have just had a whole slew of activation requests, beyond the number of seats in your contract. That will prompt Autodesk to check in to ensure you aren't accidentally violating the contract.

Re: Big Brother....

Rpunturi — Mon, 06 May 2019 18:47:02 GMT

Travis,

I have noticed that every time any of the people ask if this is Ligit or not, you are the first person to show up and say the exact same thing over and over as you did on every site.

Odd, really.

@TravisNave wrote:

Yep, this is a legit SAM audit. Basically, Autodesk will ask you to run a report using their software to gather your Autodesk installations in your enterprise and they will use that data to determine if you are in compliance with the license agreement.

I perform this exact same audit. It is in Autodesk's right to do so. It's probably best that you comply. If you think you have anything out of compliance now, you might wanna tidy up.

Re: Big Brother....

TravisNave — Mon, 06 May 2019 18:51:30 GMT

Yep. Which is why I posted this:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/installation-licensing/request-notification-your-autodesk-software-review-audit/m-p/8745877