User Licence Codes FAQs

IDEAlliance has revised its Mail.dat^® User License Code program and is now providing Codes through Royalty License Agreements with participating software providers.

Q: I already have a Mail.dat® User License Code from IDEAlliance. Do I need to obtain another one from my vendor?

A: No. Your User License Code is still in effect and can be used according to the terms under which you received it from IDEAlliance. It may be a good idea to inform your vendor of your current User License Code for their records.

Q: Is a User License Code required for Mail.XML™?

A: At this time, the User License Code is only required for Mail.dat®. However, we recommend that you still obtain a User License Code either directly from IDEAlliance or through a licensed vendor if you would like to participate in the Mail.XML™ editing meetings.

Q: Will IDEAlliance still provision User License Codes directly?

A: Yes. Under IDEAlliance User License Code Royalty License Agreement, any company may purchase a single site User License Code for perpetual use. This also allows the ULC licensee to participate and contribute to the development and editing of the Mail.dat®/Mail.XML™ specification.

Q: Does the Royalty License Agreement provide the opportunity for sublicensing?

A: No, it does not. The Royalty License Agreement only provides for the provisioning of a User License Code to the end user of a Tier 1 and Tier 2 licensee. In the event that a licensee is providing their solution, such that it will be integrated as part of another solution, which in turn is licensed to a different end-user, all intermediaries in the process must become Royalty Licensees pursuant to the appropriate Tier Usage as outlined in the Royalty License Agreement.

Q: My customer, to whom I have provisioned a ULC, has elected to not renew their solution with me. May I repurpose the User License Code?

A: Not at this time. You should notify IDEAlliance that the User License Code is no longer in effect for the particular customer. IDEAlliance will consider an appropriate process by which User License Codes may be reinstated once provisioned.

Q: How do I ensure I am providing a unique User License Code?

A: Once the Royalty License Agreement is executed, IDEAlliance will provide a list of User License Codes that have been provisioned. It is the responsibility of the Royalty Licensees to ensure provisioned User License Codes are kept unique within their assigned block.

Q: I have an assigned block of User License Codes. What is the order in which to provision the codes within the block?

A: It is strongly recommended that the User License Codes be provisioned in a sequential manner. Since the codes are alpha-numeric, it is recommended to assign the alpha characters first followed by the numeric.

For example, if the blocks of codes are AAAA to AA99, then the recommended assignment would be:

AAAA, AAAB, AAAC, AAAD…AAAZ, AAA0, AAA1, AAA2…AAA9, AABA, AABB, AABC…AABZ, AAB0, AAB1…AA98, AA99