Question:
I intended to use DAO in my application, but I wonder whether is there anylicense issue if I written an application in VB and distributed it orresell it?
Answer:
The DLLs required for DAO usage in Visual Basic can be distributedroyalty-free. This is in the license agreement for Visual Basic.Microsoft has never charged royalties or other run-time fees for usage ofthe DLLs and other controls required to make your programs run. Thelicense agreement says, in paragraph 1.d.(ii):Microsoft grants you a nonexclusive, royalty-free right to reproduce theobject code version of any portion of the software listed in the softwarefile REDIST.TXT provided you comply with section d(iii):If you redistribute the sample code or redistributable software, you agreeto A) distribute the redistributables in object code only in conjunctionwith and as a part of a software application product developed by you thatadds significant and primary functionality to the software and that isdeveloped to operate on the Windows or Windows NT environment; B) not useMicrosoft’s name, logo, or trademarks to market your software applicationproduct; C) include a valid copyright notice on your software product; D)indemnify, hold harmless, and defend Microsoft from and against any claimsor lawsuites, including attorney’s fees, that arise or result from the useor distribution of y our software application product; E) not permitfurther distribution of the redistributables by your end user. There are some exceptions to section D(iii), so be sure to read the licenseagreement included with Visual Basic. The main exception is that you can’tdistribute the Jet DLLs if you are writing a product that competes with theOffice suite. If your program uses a database, that is not considered ageneral-purpose product; therefore, you can distribute the DAO DLLs withoutany restriction.
