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Software Lawyer Resources & Self Study

Posted by Steve Vondran | Jul 25, 2015 | 0 Comments

Steve Vondran, Esq – the Software Lawyer's self study resources!  Learn more about Bittorent, Software and other Technology that may be involved in legal issues! 

Introduction

SORRY, I COULD NOT AFFORD AN LLM DEGREE IN TECHNOLOGY LAW (MASTER OF LAWS).  So I learned on my own!! You can too!

In the “old days” you had to go to school for everything.  Get into a good college, spend tons of money if you wanted to learn a skill or a trade that you had a passion for.  In the modern age, you simply don't need to go to college to get advanced training and learning in your areas of interest.  I have a strong passion for computer technology and software law, and here is a list of courses, videos and webinars I have watched online to build my expertise in the area of software licensing law.

As mentioned in my attorney profile section, I earned a certificate in intellectual property from Whittier Law School.  I went to law school at night and I worked full time during the day, first for a patent and IP lawyer, and next, as an ASP software application provider (basically our company created and rented software over the internet to users who paid a monthly fee.  This was years ago back before “software as a service” (SaaS) became a big thing and common business term.

My experience at the software company was mainly in the role as project manager (working with developers and programmers to implement customer changes into the software).  I helped out the sales staff by giving demos of the software, and worked with management to provide feedback I received from the customers (I was basically the help desk as well).  In addition, I worked on internet marketing issues.  Being the #4 person in the company with a lot of stock options riding on it, I wore many hats and basically did anything I could to help make the product marketable as I wanted an IPO as bad as the founders did.  Well the IPO fell short about 6 months before the .com crash, and my position with the company ended along with a large staff of salespersons.  The venture capitalists then raided the company for what was left.

Every cloud has a silver lining though, and for me there were two huge bonuses that would change my life forever

After being laid off, I was thankful that I was in law school.  The market had crashed but at least I had my foot in the door of another profession – law.  Two positive things came from the layoff however:

1. I met my wife at the layoff party across the street from our office in the Wells Fargo building in Newport Beach, California.   Now, I knew her from before having been in her office and giving software demos to her clients, but that was always business.  When were laid off, we had a better chance to get to know each other on a personal level.  We eventually fell in love and got married.  When I had more business than I could handle due to my internet marketing, I called her (she was working at another software company) and asked her for help.  She joined the team and we have never looked back since.

2.  I learned many valuable things about software and technology (and also internet marketing) that I have used in my law firm to help me succeed in building my law practice.  My wife Lisa (who also had a background in software having worked for ePartners and Rockwell) taught me many things and further ignited my passion for the software industry.

Sometimes experience is the only thing you get when you don't get what you want.  Nevertheless, I am still pursuing my passions today, and our business, real estate and intellectual property business is booming.    I was later elected as executive counsel member for the Arizona State Bar – Intellectual Property section.  I have also previously worked at “Epoch Internet” and was fortunate enough to be enrolled in their prestigious “Internet University” where I learned more about technology relating to the internet that I knew existed.

The following is a list of some of the “self-study” materials I use (all free online) to continue to learn more about the ever-changing business of computers, software, and technology.  If you are thinking about getting into software law, I would highly recommend taking time to view these materials.  They have helped me tremendously.

Online Software Technology Education

These are a few of the videos, podcasts and blogs I have reviewed from start to finish.  This is a starting point for research for any new software lawyer, but there is some great information here:

1.  Microsoft Licensing Explained – Webinar (deals with various Microsoft licensing agreements, CAL's, enterprise agreements, software assurance, true-up, etc.)

2.  Expert Outlines Microsoft's Enterprise Agreements Changes

3.  Client Access Licenses (CAL) in Server – Windows server 2012

4.  Understanding Server Licensing

5.  All about CAL licensing for Microsoft Windows Server 2012

6.  An introduction to Servers (from one of my favorite guys, Eli the Computer Guy)

7.  How does software and hardware communicate?

8.  Video regarding Microsoft Assessment (MAP) toolkit

9.  What is Microsoft Software Assurance?  (for more information go to microsoft.com/softwareassurance)

10.  Newegg TV interview with Microsoft executive regarding CAL software licensing

11. Autocad 2014 serial number and product

12.  What is software piracy?

13.  To catch a pirate

14.  The new office 365 is here

15.  Illegal software downloading on the internet

16.  Autodesk inventory advisor - free software licensing and compliance tool

17.  Busted for downloading!!!

18. Legal aspects of file sharing

19. What To Do When Notified Of Possible Online Copyright Infringement? from DieTrollDie

20.  Introduction to virtualization (knowledge comes in handy in Microsoft SAM audits)

21.  Introduction to cloud computing

22.  Cherwell Asset Management 

23.  Negotiating Saas (software as a service) contracts

24.  Legal risks of open source software

25.  Criminal copyright infringement explained

26.  If you are accused of using software “crack tools” or “crack codes” watch this video (using technology to get around student or trial versions of software).  NOTE:  We do not endorse this video or recommend doing what they are doing.  This could lead to charges of criminal software infringement.

27.  Revit tutorial

28.  How hard it is to get caught pirating online?  (discusses potential flaws in Copyright Alert System)

29.  Autodesk Maya LT for game makers

30.  Bittorens how it works (great video which shows you visually how this works)

31. Software piracy lurks everywhere (Microsoft counterfeit video)

32.  Autodesk Inventor - CAD / 3d

33. How to stream live video on facebook using your computer and wirecast

34.  Microsoft Visio Professional overview

35. What is Microsoft Sharepoint platform

36.  Microsoft Infopath explained

37.  What is Microsoft Office 365

38.  How to Clone Windows 8 [Is it legal to clone software]

39.  How to tell if your Microsoft software is counterfeit

40.  FBR explained

Click HERE for more software lawyer self-study resources.

Contact a Software Compliance & Technology Law Firm

Thank you for taking the time to review this page.  If you are having a legal dispute with a major software vendor, or their lawyers, (such as Microsoft, CNC-Mastercam, Oracle, Attachmate, Corel, SiemensAdobe, Autodesk, Rosetta Stone, Bentley, Borland, BEA, Symantec, IBM, McAfee, Sybase or any other) or a illegal movie or music download case, copyright infringement matter, or other technology dispute involving the internet or social media, contact us to discuss your case in confidence.  We can help your company with the following types of legal issues:

1.  We can help copyright holders protect and assert their copyrights (possible contingency fee collection programs available for software publishers and creative artists)

2.  Draft and review software end-user license agreements (“EULA“)

3.  Copyright protection for software code

4.  BSA software audits

5.  Autodesk audits (Received a letter from Donahue Fitzgerald, LLP)

6.  IBM software license audits

7.  SIIA audits

8.  Copyright arbitration & litigation (we handle can handle federal copyright infringement cases nationwide, including the Northern District of California where many software companies are based, and the Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California).  We also handle cases in federal court in Arizona and other federal courts which allow us to be admitted per local rules.

9.  Handling software license disputes involving Microsoft CAL (“Device” or “User” or “RDS” licenses)

10.  Software infringement and piracy issues

11.  Bittorent illegal movie download cases

12.  Cyber-subrogation for insurance companies

13.  Siemens product lifecycle management lawsuits

14.  Internet Right of Publicity disputes

15.  DMCA copyright litigation & agent service

16.  Software audits from Software Compliance Group (SCG) – PODCAST.

17.  Internet Defamation and Anti-SLAPP

For detailed information about or leadership in the area of software audits go to our Software Audit Resource Center.   We have helped many small and mid-sized businesses across the United States, including architects, engineers, design firms, media companies, manufacturers and others defend against claims of using unlicensed software products.

Contact a Software, Technology & IP Lawyer

We can be reached at (877) 276-5084 or by filling out the contact form below.  We have flexible legal fee arrangements that will fit the needs of most organizations from large to small and even the “mom and pop” companies including architects and engineers.  If you have any questions about software or technology law, or intellectual property issues don't hesitate to drop us a line.  As we tell our Clients “this is not your daddy's stuffy law firm.”  Don't fall for the BILLABLE HOURT TRAP.  At our firm, you get fast responses, superior customer service, affordable flat rate fee pricing (for most cases), and quality legal services.  We look forward to working with you!

About the Author

Steve Vondran

Thank you for viewing our blogs, videos and podcasts. As noted, all information on this website is Attorney Advertising. Decisions to hire an attorney should never be based on advertising alone. Any past results discussed herein do not guarantee or predict any future results. All blogs are written by Steve Vondran, Esq. unless otherwise indicated. Our firm handles a wide variety of intellectual property and entertainment law cases from music and video law, Youtube disputes, DMCA litigation, copyright infringement cases involving software licensing disputes (ex. BSA, SIIA, Siemens, Autodesk, Vero, CNC, VB Conversion and others), torrent internet file-sharing (Strike 3 and Malibu Media), California right of publicity, TV Signal Piracy, and many other types of IP, piracy, technology, and social media disputes. Call us at (877) 276-5084. AZ Bar Lic. #025911 CA. Bar Lic. #232337

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