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licenseManager - Management of License and Price Models for Geoservices
The licenseManager component of sdi.suite is used to define, organise and apply license and price models within service-based Spatial Data Infrastructures. It enables license-based access to geoservices by enforcing agreement with user conditions, use restrictions, and price/fee models, whenever a service is accessed by a user.
licenseManager builds on the proven concept of sdi.suite securityManager. It provides a tool with which license models can be defined, and through which a user can then access services. The license is concluded electronically and enforced when the service is accessed. Price or usage-fee models can be individually determined and assigned to commercially offered geoservices. The price structure ranges from simple flat rates to complex, use-dependent models (pay per use), which also incorporate discounts and multiple-use reductions.
licenseManager can also be used to define user conditions for freely accessible geoservices, for instance, explicitly excluding the commercial use of services. This results in what is known as a click-through license, which resembles the method by which license conditions are accepted by a user whenever they install a software program. It makes it possible for both public and private service providers to enforce agreement with users regarding license and user conditions.
In the context of INSPIRE, licenseManager can also be employed as an e-commerce service, as defined in Article 14 (4) of the INSPIRE guideline. Accordingly, it constitutes an effective tool for institutions who wish to charge fees for selected INSPIRE network services which they seek to offer subject to the terms of an electronic licensing agreement.
Similarly, the construction of shop solutions for geoservices and their integration in geoportals is supported both by the consistent application of standards and the modular structure of licenseManager. In this way, licenseManager offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use solution for regulating license and user rights in service-based spatial data infrastructures.
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