A few professors have written to me asking if they can legally install the Microsoft Assembler in their college computer labs.

The license agreement for MASM is printed in the back of the book on the page facing the CD-ROM. It permits one copy of the assembler to be in use for each CD-ROM that is distributed. One might point out that some students may have installed MASM on their home computers, thereby using their license. The same students would probably expect to use MASM in the college computer laboratory. On the other hand, we don't know how many students actually install their own disks.

There are at least two ways that your college may already have a license for MASM:

1. Microsoft distributes MASM as part of a free download for all registered users of Visual C++, called the Visual C++ Processor Pack. Click here to view the download page. They don't specifically mention MASM, but I have installed it, and it includes MASM 6.15.
2. Your college might own a copy of the Microsoft MSDN Universal Subscription. The Microsoft Assembler 6.15 is on the disk entitled Platform SDK.

Microsoft has not directly sold the Assembler for at least five years now. I have not heard of any individual or college being contacted by Microsoft in regard to their installation or use of MASM.

For more details, I recommend contacting Microsoft's licensing department directly.