Autodesk Educational and Not For Resale software

I’ve seen many posts on discussion forums where users ask about a ‘virus’ making a plotstamp saying that it was produced by autodesk educational software, and wondering where it came from, and how it got there.

The answer to that is that this works exactly as it is supposed to. If someone uses a student software package to draw with, then opens that file in a full version, or copies/pastes blocks or other entities into another file, that plotstamp will come with it. This is to prevent the commerical usage of software that someone hasn’t paid full price for.

You can’t fix this yourself, you need to contact your local reseller who will be able to help you ‘clean’ the ‘infected’ files… and obviously, you’ll want to try to determine how those got into your company’s files to begin with so it doesn’t happen again. (newer versions of autocad will have a warning dialog pop up opon open to let you know that it was created with an educational version)

From the Autodesk website:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=3268995
The Autodesk Student Version software is available to degree-seeking student, faculty, and staff members of qualified institutions. A degree-seeking student is defined as a registered student who is currently enrolled at a secondary institution or can prove current enrollment of three credit hours in a degree-granting educational program or a nine-month certificate-granting educational program.
You can purchase Autodesk Student Version software at your local campus bookstore or an Autodesk education reseller. Find an Autodesk education reseller using our locator page.
The Autodesk Student Version is an educational version of the software. It incorporates all the functionality of our professional licenses and includes education-specific features, such as a print banner— making the software inappropriate for professional, commercial, or for-profit purposes. Autodesk Student Version software may not be used in the classroom or lab for instructional purposes.
Annual licenses of Autodesk student software are not eligible for product upgrade or transfer to a commercial license. Please contact your Autodesk education reseller to verify eligibility for product upgrades and education to commercial transfers.

And for some reason, during a lot of edu version conversations, someone will bring up NFR (Not For Resale) software, so I’ll go ahead and talk about those too.
These packages are typically given away by Autodesk; like door prizes at AU, or via AUGI and your Local Users Group. While the Autodesk website doesn’t have much to say on them (as far as I’ve been able to find), I do know that NFR packages are fully functioning versions of the software, they don’t have any sort of plotstamp, and they can be used for as long as the EULA for that release allows, but, they cannot be sold, upgraded or put on subscription (in other words, don't buy one off eBay).

A couple of links about NFR’s:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=612745
Note: Not all Autodesk software products are available on subscription. Technical support is not available for Autodesk® 3ds Max® software, Education customers, or NFR (not for resale) products.

http://siggraphnews.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=11167
Autodesk User Group International and NFR Software By Elise Moss