Software exchange
A software exchange is an organized market for software that works in a similar way to a stock exchange. Software licenses are traded as products. The advantage of trading software on the stock exchange is the bundling of supply and demand , which means that high liquidity can be achieved.
Legal position
Due to the ECJ ruling of July 3, 2012, software that was sold without a data carrier can also be freely traded. The ECJ ruled: In the case where the manufacturer sells his software for the first time, his exclusive right of distribution is exhausted. He could therefore not oppose the resale of the software, regardless of the type of original delivery.
The BGH fully endorsed the ECJ with regard to the underlying legal issues. Analogous to the ECJ ruling, the exhaustion principle also applies to software licenses transferred online. The right to download the associated updates from the manufacturer's website again remains unaffected in the event of resale. Different clauses in license agreements are ineffective. The so-called “splitting ban”, which the manufacturers invoked so far, is also no longer applicable. It is only forbidden to split individual licenses, not license packages such as volume licenses. However, only software that has been acquired with an unlimited useful life can be resold, and the previous purchaser must make his copy of the software unusable.
Emergence
Due to the liberalization of the European used software market , the topic has gained significantly in importance. Before liberalization, used software was mostly obtained from a few dealers.
Software exchanges were set up, like other exchanges, to enable or facilitate the conclusion of contracts at market prices.
Trade procedure
Different trading methods are used to take into account the technical conditions of software licenses. The most common auction procedure at software exchanges is the double auction , in which both sides of the market act and buy and sell orders are possible at the same time.
However, this method is particularly suitable for software without data carriers . Other types, such as retail or OEM licenses, are mostly traded via one-way auctions or fixed prices.
forecast
Forecasting methods are an important advantage of software exchanges . These are intended to generate important information such as price development in order to enable reasonable acquisition times and price hedging.