SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2231        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Barry R. Finegold

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act providing for software licensing fairness.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2231        FILED ON: 1/17/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2007 OF 2023-2024.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act providing for software licensing fairness.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 7D of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following new section:-

Section 12. Fair software licensing

(a) A contract for the licensing of software applications, which are intended to be installed by a governmental body and designed to run on generally available desktop or server hardware, shall not limit such governmental body’s ability to install or run the software on the hardware of the governmental body’s choosing.

(b) The secretary of technology services and security may promgulate regulations or otherwise issue administrative directives to carry out the purposes of this section.

SECTION 2. Section 1 shall apply to any contract or addendum for the licensing of software applications on or after the effective date of this act.