Microsoft's licensing policies and practices are arcane - consultants specialize in explaining them to businesses - but the requirement may have caught some by surprise. 'Organizations, not individuals, are responsible for their licensing agreements,' a company spokeswoman said in an email reply to questions Wednesday. Microsoft made it clear who was to write the check.

In other words, to use Office Home & Student 2013 RT on a Windows RT tablet, businesses must have another, corporate-class license in place for the employee, even if the device is owned by that worker. Those rights can be acquired through some of the upcoming Office 365 subscriptions aimed at businesses - which for a flat yearly fee let a worker run Office 2013 on up to five different devices - by purchasing a higher-priced perpetual-licensed copy of Office Standard 2013 or Office 2013 Professional Plus or by having an Office volume licensing contract, such as the annuity-like Software Assurance, in place. ZDNet blogger and longtime Windows watcher Mary Jo Foley first reported on the fine print. 'Organizations who purchase commercial use rights or have a commercial license to Office 2013 suites can use Office Home & Student 2013 RT for commercial, nonprofit, or revenue-generating activities,' Microsoft explained in a statement, and in an FAQ on the company's website that was revised Wednesday.

Office home and student rt