Npcap licensing clarification for enterprise use with Wireshark

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Glad to see this question! I had the same inquiry, as we distribute Wireshark internally through our corporate software deployment platforms. About five years ago, we actually did purchase a license and support contract, as it was thought that it was required. However, when the renewal came up, I did a closer analysis and concluded a license is NOT required for our usage. (Full disclosure: I'm not a lawyer, and have not even played one on TV).

A license is required for internal-use of Npcap OEM (our commercial version) with Wireshark.  This is the Npcap edition with enterprise features such as a silent installer for automated deployment.  And it's the version [ ... ] has licensed.  We also offer a free demo version of Npcap which is included with Wireshark and available from npcap.com.  The free demo version allows unlimited internal use with Wireshark, but without those deployment features or ...

A few additional notes:

• The license is perpetual, so technically, the license is a one-time cost.

We offer Npcap OEM as a perpetual license to the current version, with the option to purchase maintenance (updates and support) for 1 or more years. Maintenance is optional, but highly recommended because it extends the perpetual license to include all new versions released during the maintenance period.

Thus, even if you felt compelled to purchase the license, it would be a one-time cost, as long as you did not require updated versions of Npcap OEM nor technical support.

• The license is essentially granted on the "honor" system.

Please note that Npcap OEM does not include any license management or DRM components. Those can be risky if they go wrong, so we rely on companies to track their own install numbers (or just buy the enterprise unlimited license).

So there is no automated enforcement ...(more)