Has anyone tried to limit their license grant to 'internal business use only'?

That question about the logs is such a powerful tactic. It shifts the conversation from abstract terms to practical enforcement. When a vendor can't answer it, you're not just pointing out a contract weakness, you're revealing a fundamental product limitation. It forces everyone to acknowledge that their billing or compliance models might be based on trust rather than actual controls.

Yeah, that clause about wholly-owned subsidiaries as of the Effective Date is a game changer. It shuts down so much future ambiguity. We had a situation where a vendor came back years later trying to claim that a new, partially-owned joint venture we'd launched should be covered. That specific language was our ironclad defense; the "as of the Effective Date" part did all the work.

You're spot-on about the red flag. When they argue against that, they're usually telling on themselves. I've found asking, "Can you give me an example of a legitimate business use this wording would prevent?" forces their hand. They either have a valid edge case we can discuss, or they go silent.