Some of you may have read the email dialogue I had with Crystal Decisions in 2001.  My goal was to clarify the scope of the Crystal Broadcast License (CBL) for CRv8.   I found a clear disconect between the actual license wording and what Crystal Decisions claimed as their intent.

The Email diaologue below covers the the CBL in CRv9, which wasn't any better.   It appears to me that CD is trying to backtrack from a written statement they gave me last fall.  This was a statement that they gave me specifically to use for writing articles on my web site.  I would like to maintain my own credibility on this topic, so I am publishing the entire Email dialogue that I used as the basis for my writing.   I am not a lawyer, but I think these messages might be helpful if you need to demonstrate a lack of clarity with regard to the CBL.  The blue messages are from Jaylene Crick, a Crystal Decisions Product manager.  Some key phrases are in Red. 

If you don't want to read the entire dialobue, here are links to the highlights:
9/4/2002 - I notify Jaylene that I have published an initial article based on the actual wording of the license
9/25/2002 - They ask me to participate in a conference call to clarify the CBL
9/25/2002 - I agree to participate, with the condition that they follow up with a written response to use as a basis for my articles
10/1/2002 - They provide a written response which includes:   
        A line that says she is working with their legal staff on this issue
        The key statement, that the CBL is only needed when you automate both generation and distribution
        An admission that the license wording is unclear
        The key statement repeated in a different form

3/11/2003 - A user scenario that reopens the discussion
3/26/2003 - What sounds like backtracking from the original wording
4/3/2003 -  My wording compared to hers.
4/9/2003 -  I ask her to confirm that 2 sentences (taken directly from her written statement) are not accurate
4/9/2003 -  Seems pretty clear that she originally provided me with statements that are not accurate
5/27/2003 -  Expanded scenarios with responses from Jaylene
8/24/2002
Jaylene,

The CRBL [in v9] seems to apply to MORE situations now, including the very situation I posed in our original Email exchange.  According to your  clarifications of the old CBL, a manual distribution had to Automated before a CBL was required.  But, with the new wording a manual distribution to 50 users that occurs regularly now requires a CRBL.  

You may remember my original question.   It had to do with my monthly schedule.  At the time I would manually export and post this HTML file to my web site so my customers would be able to check my availability.  I did this once per week, which most people would consider 'regularly'.  I was told that under the CBL this wasn't a broadcast, because I did it manually.  But, if I do this in v9 I would need a CRBL.  Did your legal team intend to expand the scope this way?

You also mentioned that it was more affordable with simpler pricing.  Is this something that is negotiated on a case by case basis, or is there a fixed price?  Can you send me information that describes how the CRBL is implemented?

Thanks,
Ken
9/4/2002
Jaylene,

I haven't heard from you about the question below.  So, to be safe,  I have warned my users that the CRBL may now apply to manual distributions if they upgrade to v9.   Can you clarify this for me? 
[repeat of questions deleted]
A sales rep Emailed me that CRBL was a flat $35,000.  But, of course, that isn't put into writing anywhere else.  Any chance he misunderstood the pricing?

Thanks,
Ken
9/18/2002
Hi Ken.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I have been on a world tour promoting Crystal Reports 9 and haven't had much email time. 

I must admit that I'm a bit disapointed to see what you have published your newsletter without waiting for confirmation from me. Next email thread, please let me know what publication deadlines you are working toward so we prevent the publication of incorrect or unclear information.

I discussed your exact CRBL usage with your monthly calendar with both Legal and the Product Manager responsible for licensing and we agree that if you are using Crystal Reports - by itself - to regularly generate the report, CRBL does not apply to you. We've added a small blurb to our website's licensing area to help clarify this:

A Crystal Reports Broadcast License is not required when Crystal Reports is used by itself, and not in combination with other software, for manual distribution of reports on a regular basis.

Hope this clarifies that you do not need a CRBL.

Regards,
Jaylene
9/18/2002
Jaylene,

I am puzzled that you would consider my article "incorrect or unclear information".  I wrote it after a careful study of what the license actually says.  I quoted the license on every point.  I pointed out that it all hinged on the definition of 'ad hoc'.  So, I am confident that I provided a very clear explanation of what the license says.   However, I have learned from past experience that what a license says to a reader, may not be exactly what Crystal Decisions intended.  That is why I qualified that section with 'may' and 'might' and asked you for clarification a full week before I published my newsletter.   I have another newsletter going out around the first of October and I may add some more information on this topic if I can get some additional clarification.  There are several questions at the end of this message that should help us get there.

At present, I am puzzled by your initial clarification.  Licenses are written by lawyers who are paid to use very careful wording.  The v9 license really does say that manual distributions are exempt if they are "on a one time or ad hoc basis".  You seem to be saying that manual distributions on a regular basis are also exempt.  So, why doesn't the license say the same thing you are saying?  I don't know any reasonable person who would have read that section of the license and found the interpretation that you are giving me.  Maybe it is the license that is providing a little "incorrect or unclear" information?   

I also read the new blurb on the web site.   I assume that the blurb we are talking about is the following:
Crystal Reports Broadcast License
A license for the right to combine Crystal Reports server technology with existing server distribution systems such as email, groupware products, portals and web servers to distribute static reports to more than 50 users. These users do not require access to the server components of any Crystal Decisions product.

Note - A Crystal Reports Broadcast License is not required when Crystal Reports is used by itself, and not in combination with other software, for manual distribution of reports on a regular basis.
First problem - I would not have read that blurb and thought that my scenario is OK.  By posting an exported file on a web site I am obviously using a "web server" to distribute the report.  The first paragraph specifically includes web servers.   The web server also qualifies as 'other software' mentioned in the note, which means that I am not using CR by itself. 

Second problem - the blurb and your explanation seem to make a distinction between using Crystal "stand-alone" and using Crystal with other software.  The license specifically counts these the same.  The license section 3.4 starts with "You may use the Software by itself or as part of a system to.."   It doesn't make a distinction anywhere for using CR by itself in this context.

Last, this blurb also introduces the term 'Crystal Reports server technology' which is not defined in the blurb or mentioned in the license.   What exactly is the 'server technology' ?  How do I know if I am using it?   Is it the same as any of the 'server' terms defined in the license, such as:
 1.7     Report Application Server
 1.9     Server/Web Application
 1.10   Server Environment
What does this have to do with broadcasting?

So to recap my questions: 

1) Why does the license say "one time or ad hoc" when a "regular" basis is also exempt?  Do you consider the license wording clear on this point?
2) If a company uses stand-alone Crystal Reports, and then uploads the exported files to a web site, are they broadcasting?  No matter how often? No matter how many users access this file? 
3) If this same company attaches the exported file manually to an Email message and sends it out to a group of people, are they broadcasting?  No matter how often? No matter how many users access the reports? 
4)  What exactly is the 'server technology' mentioned in the blurb?  How do I know if I am using it? What does it have to do with Broadcasting?
5) Why does the blurb mention "when Crystal Reports is used by itself," when the license doesn't make this distinction, anywhere.

Looking forward to your answers. 

Ken Hamady, MS
9/25/2002
Hi Ken - is it possible for us to setup a time to discuss your questions via the phone on Friday afternoon or Monday? It would be nice to talk with you and to be able to introduce you to one of our other Crystal Reports product managers who helped design the Version 9 license.

Please let me know what time works for you.

Jaylene
9/25/2002
Jaylene,

I would be happy to talk to you and the product manager.

I would want to base any clarifications that I publish on something written.  This means having the results of our discussion put in writing in a way that is clear to all 3 of us.  If we start the process on Monday, and it takes a few iterations, it will probably wait for the November newsletter. 

It will also help me get my brain in gear if you can tell me what your objective is for this call.  My objective is to nail down specific answers to the 5 questions I sent you.  Do you think that is reasonable? 

Ken Hamady, MS
9/26/2002
Hi Ken. We are on Pacific time. I'm having difficulty getting my schedule to jive with my colleague as we're at quarter end right now. As such, is it possible for us to talk on Monday afternoon instead? This would likely mean that our information is too late for your October newsletter but I feel that a telephone conversion is definitely the best way to make sure all your questions are cleared up.

I agree that the objective will be to lock down the specific responses to your questions.

Regards,
Jaylene
10/1/2002
Hi Ken. As discussed, below are my written responses to our conversation (marked with "JC") Please note that our conversation mainly applies to use of Crystal Reports. For Crystal Enterprise Professional, we have created a separate license to capture the broadcasting case - Crystal Enterprise Report Distribution License - and the word "regular" does, indeed apply. i.e. the customer regularly uses the scheduler in the product to automate the delivery of reports to a location outside the CE system. If you need clarification, please let me know.

JC - As discussed, I am working with legal on a new statement for the website to clarify that if any part of the report generation and distribution process is manual, then the Crystal Reports Broadcast License does not apply.

1) Why does the license say "one time or ad hoc" when a "regular" basis is also exempt?  Do you consider the license wording clear on this point?
JC - We originally tried to capture both CR and CE cases and as a result, the licensing is not as clear as we'd like it to be. Please point customers to our policy clarification on our website. (will be posted within the next week or so)

2) If a company uses stand-alone Crystal Reports, and then uploads the exported files to a web site, are they broadcasting?  No matter how often? No matter how many users access this file? 
JC - No CRBL does not apply because this is a manual process. If the company has entirely automated this process without manual intervention, then CRBL would apply. (quite likely there's some manual intervention taking place)

3) If this same company attaches the exported file manually to an Email message and sends it out to a group of people, are they broadcasting?  No matter how often? No matter how many users access the reports? 
JC - No,CRBL does not apply unless the generation and distribution process was fully automated.
10/28/2002
Jaylene,

I think the CRBL clarification would preclude the obvious questions if it said:

It is Crystal Decisions' policy in application of the Crystal Reports Broadcast Licenses (CBL/CRBL) to not require these licenses in cases where the distribution process includes manual intervention.   Only fully automated distribution processes are subject to these licenses.

I think this fits the scenarios that we discussed, and gets directly to the heart of the definition.  Thanks for letting me participate.

Ken
11/1/2002

Hi Ken. I think we are going to go with the legal description as they are pretty picky on the wording that we use since this is a policy statement. I also want to give you a heads up that we are likely going to make a few changes to the Broadcast License pricing model in the next 30 days or so. I don't have many details for you yet but believe that it will become a bit more expensive and offer customers a choice in how they finance the option. Once I learn more about these changes, I'll contact you to let you know what's happening.
11/2/2002
Jaylene,

Thanks for the update and keeping me posted.   It seems odd that you can give me a clear description of the CBL scenarios and put it in writing, and yet this can't be made clear on the web site.   I mean, I can certainly understand legal being 'picky'.  But picky doesn't have to be vague.  They certainly aren't vague anywhere else in the license.  

Does CD want this question to be answered in a clear way to the general public?  The evidence has always leaned in the other direction, but I thought the conference call signaled a change.  Now it seems like the same old fog. 

I guess I will tell my readers what I know and let them decide what to make of it. The good news for me is that my readers and customers can now clearly see the value of an independent web site and newsletter.  

Thanks,

Ken
3/11/2003
Jaylene,

I have a new CBL question, or more accurately a real scenario to use as a case study for my newsletter.

I have customer who has been told by CD that his web application requires a CBL.  I have read the description of what he is doing and compared it to my notes of our discussions.  In my opinion it sounds like a server based system, rather than a CBL situation.  

The application takes input from the end user,  updates a record in a database and then uses the RDC to automatically export a PDF that is delivered to the user.   Since the report processing happens on the server, and on-demand, it sounds like a server based system - governed by CALs.   But that is not what he is being told.  Below is the response that he has received.  I have two questions.  

1) Each report is initiated manually by the user, and I thought we had clarified that any manual intervention precluded a process from being considered a broadcast.  The message he received (see below) says that the generation process is not relevant. 

2) The message below focuses on the fact that distributing the report doesn't require the runtime software (even though generating each report does).  I don't remember the use of runtime software as a factor in determining CBL.  The first sentence of the response seems to be saying that anything that is NOT specifically a server based system HAS  to be a CBL application.   His wording and use of clause 2.9 seems to be saying that ANY system that delivers reports requires a CBL. 

Here is his short description of his application:
A user requests a quote by selecting a hyperlink. This request is handled by a dll sitting on an application server. The dll produces the data and enters it to a SQL database, retrieving the record id after insertion.  It then calls the craxdrt.dll to open the report using the passed in record ID. The application then exports the report to a pdf file. The application then retrieves the pdf and ftp's it to the webserver and then has it viewed by the user.

Here is the response he received from Crystal Decisions:
"I can confirm that your application does require a Crystal Broadcast License as it does not conform to the definition of a server/web-based application.  While the report request and execution phase of your application invokes the RDC through some abstraction layers, the process of distributing the report to the end user does not involve the runtime software at all - it is based entirely around viewing an exported PDF file.

It is that latter process that falls within the domain of a Report Distribution System. As you will see in the EULA, clause 2.9 refers to systems that "deliver, share or distribute Reports" - the generation process of the reports (in your case the final PDF files) is not relevant.

What do you think?
Have the CBLs changed since we had our last discussion?

Ken
3/11/2003

Hi Ken. Thanks for your email. Can you possible find out who gave this response from Crystal? Can you also indicate who the customer is? I want to track down this as in initial glance it appears our rep gave the wrong information.  I should be able to get back to you on the rest by Friday (am currently on the road)

Regards,
Jaylene
3/21/2003

Hi Ken. I have reviewed the customer's scenario with our legal folks and our Crystal Australia office and based on interpretation of the license itself, this customer does require a CRBL (Note that the customer has been presented with several options to alter the app so that it does not require this specific license). CRBL is not required as a result of any changes/clarifications to our licensing model since our last discussions, but rather, based on the fact that they are automatically distributing the resulting report file.  Clause 2.9 and 4.3 of the CR8.5 license agreement might help clarify things:

Report Distribution System "any process or system or combination of processes or systems that is or are used to automatically and/or regularly deliver, share, or distribute Reports, without providing any Access to a Server/Web application: a) to greater than fifty (50) end users directly, or b) to a location that is accessible..."

"If you use the Software or Runtime Software, together or separately or in combination with Server Environments, to create a Report Distribution System, you must acquire a Crystal Broadcast License as a separate and standalone offering from Crystal."

I believe the customer has also been contacted to confirm that a CRBL will be required unless the customer wants to work with us on altering the application to use the other available options.

Kind regards,
Jaylene
3/21
Jaylene,

On a related note, in the fall we discussed several CBL scenarios that I currently have published on my web site.  They are to help show when a CBL would/would not be required.  I think they accurately reflect your Email message of 10/1/02.   I realize that these scenarios don't apply to the Australian case, and I don't want to confuse them.  My first concern is that I have published accurate information.  Would you review them and make sure they are still reflect CD policy?

   http://www.kenhamady.com/license9.html

Thanks,

Ken Hamady
3/26/2003

Hi Ken. I have reviewed your article and it's 99% still accurate. I would say though that in my discussions with legal and in reviewing the license (with fresh eyes) that we could focus in more on the distribution part of the process and replace the following sentence:
"If either the generation of the report, or the distribution of the report, requires some human intervention, then no broadcasting has occurred."
With something like:
"If the distribution of the report requires some human intervention then no broadcasting has occurred."
Small point.

Regards,
Jaylene
3/26/2003
Jaylene,

This would be a very significant change in meaning. 

When we discussed this by phone in the fall, you talked to legal and followed up to me with written confirmation because you knew I would be publishing an article based on your response.  Here is the relevant part of the Email response you sent me:

[see message above]

That first and last lines are very clear - both generation and distribution.  And it was also clear that you had discussed this with the legal team, and were going to post a similar clarification.  You even went so far as to confirm that the license wasn't completely clear in it's current form.

This written response is what caused me to consider the issue fully resolved.  I rewrote several of my articles based on this.  Now, after thousands of people have read these articles, and some have made business decisions based on this information, you are asking me to change the wording you gave me.  I am hesitant for several reasons:

1) I would have to publish the basis for my original articles (your Email) or face some very angry people who would blame me for the misinformation.   I really don't want to put you on the hot seat, but you are the CD representative who gave that information to me.

2) For me to publish any new wording I would have to understand it very well.  That means nailing down the line between generation and distribution more specifically.  I thought I understood your intention pretty clearly before, but my scenarios do not get to the point anymore.  We would have some work to do first.

Your thoughts are welcome.

Ken Hamady
4/3/2003

Hi Ken. Your scenarios on your website and the below ones are correct. The sentence that introduces these scenarios on your website is not correct though as it does not map to the license:
If either the generation of the report, or the distribution of the report, requires some human intervention, then no broadcasting has occurred. 
This indirectly implies that if you manually generate a report (such as hitting the "start" button) but automate the distribution of the report, then no CBL applies. This is not true - a CBL would apply just as it did with the Australian customer.

Regards,
Jaylene
4/3/20003
Jaylene,

I am glad to know that the scenarios are correct, but the scenarios were rough tools I used to expose the more general rule.  Your users (and my readers) deserve a clear general rule so that they can make long term business decisions.  We both agreed that the general rule is not clear in the license so "reconciling" to the license doesn't help.  That is why we spent hours nailing down specific wording - in writing - so there would be no question of what the license was intended to mean.  My wording came directly from yours.

Your Email said (my own emphasis):
"If any part of the report generation and distribution process is manual, then the Crystal Reports Broadcast License does not apply."
and later:
"CRBL does not apply unless the generation and distribution process was fully automated
So I wrote:
"If either the generation of the report, or the distribution of the report, requires some human intervention, then no broadcasting has occurred."
1) Given your messages, do you think I misquoted you? 
2) Are you telling me that you didn't understand your own license clearly until now? 

I think it has to be #1 or #2 and I have a hard time swallowing #1 given your messages above and your most recent messages.  However, going with #2 isn't much better, because, as far as I am concerned, your response was an official interpretation of the license, given in writing, and coming from a representative of Crystal Decisions.  I don't think you can just change your mind once you put something in writing.  If a customer bought Crystal based on your statement, and then invested money in implementation, I don't think you could go to them 6 months later and say "Sorry, we want to change our interpretation now, and by the way, you have to buy a CBL."   

So, if we got it wrong last fall, after all of that work to try to clarify things, then I don't think it is fair to ask me to change my article without another round of discussion.  

Ken
4/4/2003

Hi Ken. My original discussions and email threads on this subject were responses to specific scenarios/examples that you outlined and not intended to be the "general rule". What's legally binding is the language in the actual license agreement. Your scenarios on your website are still accurate, as is the clarification point on our website (which focuses on manual generation, not distribution). It's just that one sentence that may mislead customers, something I know you are quite concerned about.
4/4/2003
Jaylene,

The license wording, if read in normal English, rules out ALL of my scenarios.  That was the original problem, and you have already agreed that the license wording does not accurately reflect the intent of Crystal Decisions.  Also, since I have been quoting you for 6 months, I don't believe that I am misleading anyone.  You have mislead me.

The bottom line question is if CD is interested in users having a clear understanding of the general rule of the CBL. 

If so, then I will write up about a dozen scenarios that you can evaluate to clarify where you consider the line to be.  If you are NOT interested in clarification of the general rule, then I will go back to posting the entire contradictory Email dialogue that we have had on this topic, with my own unofficial opinions. People will then decide for themselves. 

Ken
4/9/2003
Jaylene,

I will be sending several scenarios later this week. 
In the meantime could you confirm that both of the following statements are now considered incorrect by Crystal Decisions:

1) If any part of the report generation and distribution process is manual, then the Crystal Reports Broadcast License does not apply.
2) CRBL does not apply unless the generation and distribution process was fully automated.

Thanks,
Ken
4/9/2003
Hi Ken. You are correct - these statements are not accurate based on interpretation of the license agreement.
5/27/2003
Jaylene,
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my scenarios, listed below.  First some general info that applies to all scenarios:

     None of these scenarios use an automated scheduler. All scenarios are initiated by a user.
     All scenarios are done weekly and serve 100 users
     The term "Click Export" means that a user manually clicks the Export button in the Preview window.
     The term "Burst" means to split a single report that includes multiple users into separate user-specific files

Email Scenarios:
1) "Click Export" a single PDF. Attach to a general Email message. Send that message to an existing Email distribution list.
JC - If after the user clicks export, the entire process to paste it into the email and send it out is automated, then CRBL applies. If clicking export simply pastes the file into an email and the user is manually inputting the user list to send to and manually clicking to sent it out, then no CRBL.
2) "Click Export" 100 user specific PDFs via 100 mouse clicks in CR. Create a distribution list that includes the recipient and their specific PDF file. Run a Macro that puts all the messages in an "outbox". Click "Send" to Email the entire batch in the outbox.
JC - I wonder who would go through the trouble to do this to simply save themselves from having to buy Cr9 Advanced instead of Dev... Similar answer to above If after the user clicks export, the user then manually clicks to run a macros and then manually clicks send, this is NOT CRBL. If the entire distribution process from Click Export to the batch being sent out is fully automated with no manual intervention, then CRBL would apply
3) "Click Export" 100 user specific HTML pages using the "separate pages" HTML option (which bursts the report). Create a distribution list that includes the recipient and their specific page file. Run a Macro that puts all the messages in the outbox. Click Send to Email the Entire Batch.
JC - same as #2
4) Use an application to Burst the Report based on an Email address in the Group Header. The application also queues up the messages and attachments in an "outbox" and then:
 a) The user clicks "Send" to Email that batch in the outbox.
JC - No CRBL because manual intervention is required in the distribution
b) The application sends the messages without a click.
JC - CRBL is required
Web Site Scenarios:
5) "Click Export" a non-user specific report to a local folder on the PC. Manually FTP this file to a web site and then:
 a) Email users instructions for downloading the report.
 b) User sends an EMail request and is automatically sent a message which includes instructions for downloading the report.
JC - No CRBL. The "delivery" of the report to a location accessible by >50 users is done manually by being manually posted to FTP site.
 c) User sends an EMail request and is automatically sent a message with the non-user specific report attached to the message.
JC - For this scenario, the end users do not directly access the reports from the server - it is simply a holding point for the report which is then "distributed" to the end users via email. Whether CRBL applies depends on the "distribution" process that pushes the report from the server to the end user. In this scenario which appears to be a fully automated process (using some kind of email auto-responder), CRBL applies.
6) "Click Export" a file directly to a web server folder.
 a) Email users instructions for downloading the report.
 b) User sends an EMail request and is automatically sent a message which includes instructions for downloading the report.
 c) User sends an EMail request and is automatically sent a message with the non-user specific report attached to the message.
JC - these are like Q5 above...
a)     No CRBL required because the delivery of the report to the accessible location is manual.
b)     Same as a).
c)     Same as 5 c) - multi-step process therefore CRBL applies.
7) "Click Export" a report that has a Crystal Reports UFL formula that will Burst output into user specific files and:
 a) Export the user specific files to a local PC folder. Manually FTP the files to Web site. Users read their files.
 b) Export the user specific files directly to a web server folder. Users read their files.
JC - a) no CRBL because manual posting to FTP b) CRBL yes if the distribution or delivery of the reports to the web server is fully automated
8) Use a VB application to Burst the report output into User Specific Files and the application then:
 a) Exports the user specific files to a local PC folder. User manually FTPs the files to Web site. Users read their files.
JC - No CRBL because manual posting to FTP
 b) Exports the user specific files to a local PC folder, and then automatically FTPs the files to Web site. Users read their files.
 c) Exports the user specific files directly to a web server folder. Users read their files.Thank you,
JC -CRBL will apply if the process from getting it off the local PC to FTP is entirely automated