The OnLive Desktop -- a tool that streams a virtual Windows desktop onto Apple iPads and Android tablets -- is apparently in violation of the licensing terms for Microsoft's flagship operating system.
"We are actively engaged with OnLive with the hope of bringing them into a properly licensed scenario, and we are committed to seeing this issue is resolved," Joe Matz, corporate vice president of worldwide licensing and pricing at Microsoft, said in a blog post on Wednesday.
Neither Microsoft nor OnLive immediately responded to a request for comment. But since the launch of OnLive earlier this year, many have questioned whether the internet service runs afoul of Microsoft's licensing terms. Until Wednesday, Microsoft had remained mum on the matter.
Founded by legendary inventor and entrepreneur Steve Perlman, the San Francisco-based startup OnLive began life offering an online service that streamed games onto PCs and other devices. Then, in mid-January, the company unleashed the OnLive Desktop, using the same online infrastructure to stream Windows desktops and various Microsoft applications onto iPads. Earlier this month, the company also added a version of the service for Android devices. With both versions, you must load a local application in order to access the service.
OnLive provides a free version of the service, but there's also a for-pay version -- OnLive Desktop Plus -- that gives you additional applications and storage space for $4.99 a month. The idea is to offer the service not only to consumers but to businesses as well.
But in late February, research outfit Gartner questioned whether OnLive might be in violation of Microsoft's licensing terms. "Organizations and end users should note that OnLive Desktop Plus may present Microsoft licensing risks for organizations if consumers install the product on company iPads or use it to edit company documents from personal devices," Gartner said. "Neither Microsoft nor OnLive has provided clear guidance on how users of these DaaS products must comply with Microsoft licensing requirements."
OnLive offers its customers unadulterated versions of Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Office -- and those customers are not required to pay a licensing fee for these Microsoft tools. But Microsoft says things can't work that way. "Customers that want to work with partners to have them host Windows 7 in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution on their behalf, can do so when the customer provides the partner licenses through the customer’s own agreements with Microsoft," Matz said.
In this case, OnLive would be "the partner."
Microsoft also indicated that it does not permit OnLive to serve its software to customers across a shared infrastructure. "The hosting hardware must be dedicated to, and for the benefit of the customer, and may not be shared by or with any other customers of that partner," Matz continued.
Redmond offers a separate licensing agreement that allows services providers to stream Microsoft software to customers, but there restrictions. Among other things, providers must use Windows Server and Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services to deliver software to the customer and, well, they can't deliver the Windows 7 client. "It is important to note that the [service provider agreement] does not support delivery of Windows 7 as a hosted client or provide the ability to access Office as a service through Windows 7."
In other words, the agreement can't accommodate the OnLive Desktop.
When we spoke to Steve Perlman in January about OnLive, he indicated that company did not see a problem with Microsoft's licensing scheme. But it's unclear what licensing agreement the company had in place.
Additional reporting by Caleb Garling
Update: In an email, an OnLive representative now tells us that: "We have never commented on any licensing agreements."
