Windows Rights Management Services Pricing and Licensing: Frequently Asked Questions
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This FAQ answers commonly asked questions about Rights Management Services Client Access Licenses (RMS CALs) and RMS External Connector (EC) Licenses. Click a question to view its answer. To view all the answers at one time, select the View all answers check box.
| Q. | Under what circumstances do I need an RMS CAL? | ||||||
| A. | An RMS CAL is required for each user or device that interacts with (e.g. creates or views) rights-protected information within an organization's rights management environment. | ||||||
| Q. | Do I need an RMS CAL if I'm only viewing rights-protected information? | ||||||
| A. | Yes. An RMS CAL is required any time a user creates or views a rights-protected document, e-mail message, or HTML content. RMS validates that the user has permission to view the rights-protected information by connecting to the RMS server, verifying the user's credentials and issuing a "usage license." | ||||||
| Q. | If I am licensed for Microsoft Office 2003, do I need an RMS CAL? | ||||||
| A. | Yes. An RMS CAL is required because RMS licensing requirements are not related to the use of Microsoft Office or any other RMS-enabled application. | ||||||
| Q. | If I have paid for the RMS CAL to enable Microsoft Office 2003 Information Rights Management (IRM) features and then I license another RMS-enabled application that uses Rights Management Services, do I have to pay for another RMS CAL? | ||||||
| A. | No. One RMS CAL per user or device fulfills the licensing requirement for accessing or using the RMS server within the given rights management domain. The RMS CAL supports an unlimited number of RMS-enabled applications. | ||||||
| Q. | If I have a Windows Server 2003 Client Access License (Windows CAL), do I still need an RMS CAL? | ||||||
| A. | Yes. An RMS CAL is required. A Windows CAL fulfills the licensing requirement to access and use the Windows Server software. RMS is an additional premium service of Windows Server 2003, so if you use RMS functionality, an RMS CAL is required. This requirement is similar to the way in which Terminal Services, another premium service, is licensed. | ||||||
| Q. | If I am licensed for the Core CAL, do I need an RMS CAL? | ||||||
| A. | Yes. An RMS CAL is required. The RMS CAL is not part of the Core CAL. However, Microsoft is extending special pricing for Core CAL Software Assurance customers to acquire the RMS CAL plus Software Assurance. Contact your local volume licensing reseller for more information on the promotion. | ||||||
| Q. | If I want to send a rights-protected document to someone outside of my organization, what are the licensing requirements? | ||||||
| A. | To enable rights-protected viewing outside your organization, you can acquire a Windows Server 2003 External Connector License and an RMS External Connector License for each RMS server that your external users will access. This fulfills the RMS licensing requirements, so you do not have to purchase individual Windows CALs and RMS CALs for each external user. An external user means any person (not an organization) who is not any of the following:
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| Q. | If both my company and my business partner's company have RMS CALs for our respective rights management environments, are we licensed to exchange rights-protected documents between our organizations? | ||||||
| A. | No. The RMS CAL only grants you access to your respective RMS environment. Since your company is external to your business partner's company and vice versa, both a Windows Server External Connector (EC) license and RMS EC license are required for each RMS server that your partner's company will access. In other words, you (Company A) must have Windows Server and RMS EC licenses for your partner (Company B) to legally access rights-protected documents created from within your company. Likewise, your business partner (Company B) must have Windows Server and RMS EC licenses for you (Company A) to legally access rights-protected documents created by your partner. Alternatively, you may purchase individual Windows Server and RMS CALs for each of your partners' users and vice versa. Any time an external user touches a given domain's server (i.e. your partner accesses a document protected by your server, or you access a document protected by your partner's server), the user or device must be licensed either by an EC or a CAL. The licensee of the RMS server must properly license both internal and external access to that instance of RMS. | ||||||
| Q. | Are there any exceptions to the RMS licensing requirements? | ||||||
| A. | Yes. For Microsoft Office 2003 users, there is a free trial Information Rights Management (IRM) service available for customers who do not have Windows Server 2003. This service enables users to share documents and messages with restricted permission by using Microsoft .NET Passport as the authentication mechanism, as opposed to Active Directory directory service. If information is rights-protected using the Microsoft .NET Passport service, CALs are not required. To learn more, visit IRM in Microsoft Office 2003. | ||||||
| Q. | RMS is on the October price lists. Why can't I find the software media in the October Volume License (VL) kit? | ||||||
| A. | RMS software media will be delivered in a future VL kit even though the product will appear on the October price lists. Since RMS will be available for download via the Internet sometime in late October, it appears on the October price lists. | ||||||
| Q. | How much does an RMS CAL cost? | ||||||
| A. | For complete pricing information, please review the RMS Pricing and Licensing Overview page. | ||||||
| Q. | Is there a difference in price for the RMS User CAL and the RMS Device CAL? | ||||||
| A. | No. The price for the RMS User CAL and RMS Device CAL is the same. For complete pricing information, please review the RMS Pricing and Licensing Overview page. | ||||||
| Q. | How can I try RMS? | ||||||
| A. | You can try RMS for up to 180 days without purchasing RMS CALs. To do this, you must install the RMS Server on top of an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition. The evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003 automatically expires in 180 days. The RMS Server does not have an expiration. | ||||||
| Q. | Do I need to buy RMS CALs to try RMS? | ||||||
| A. | No. You can try RMS for up to 180 days without purchasing CALs. | ||||||
| Q. | What do I do at the end of 180 days? | ||||||
| A. | At any time during the evaluation period or at the end of 180 days, the evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition can be converted into a production server by either purchasing a full license for Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, or by applying an existing license to the RMS server. At that time, you must also purchase RMS CALs for every user or device that is creating or consuming rights-protected content. | ||||||
| Q. | Where can I get an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003? | ||||||
| A. | The Windows Server 2003 R2 trial software can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/trial/default.mspx. | ||||||
