On Sat, 2002-05-04 at 00:42, Carroll Grigsby wrote: > The Register published an update to their earlier article. Read it at: > http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/25152.html > MS has backed down somewhat from their earlier position that the software and > the hardware are absolutely inseparable. Now it's not a legal requirement, > just beneficial. > > Included in the article is a link to: > http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/ms_tuncom/public/25/mtc-00024074.htm > Read it, too -- it presents some very powerful arguments as to why the MS > stance is both irrational and unreasonable. > > My 2 cents on this whole deal: Just because it says something in the EULA > doesn't mean it's legal. The problem is that MS has a lot of highly paid > lawyers who get their marching orders from Uncle Bill. His agenda for > domination is a matter of public record, and he has the resources to do > whatever he thinks that it takes to achieve that end. > > On a lighter note: In case you aren't familiar with The Register, this is a > site that you should check out frequently. Be sure to look for the latest > BOFH episode. (There's a new one every two weeks.) They're some of the > funniest damn stuff anywhere on the web, but they do require some > understanding of contemporary British English. > > -- cmg
An excerpt from the URL you contributed: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/25152.html _____________________________________________________________________ Microsoft in general may not believe it's a legal requirement, but its US Education Solutions Group quite clearly set out to convince US schools that it is, and there's a reasonable amount of evidence that they have been successful. CompuMentor tells us both that it's "working with Microsoft Corporation to help both consumers and nonprofits deal with old computer equipment in the most beneficial way for both society and the environment" and that it is "actually required by law to leave the operating system and current license loaded on a donated computer." Laramie County School District houses a PDF of a "donate flyer" which seems to have been produced by Microsoft for schools to give out to donors, and which uses the same wording as the web site. It may actually predate the web site, given that the URLs it includes seem largely out of date, but if one school district has misleading leaflets, we'd guess that many school districts have them. _______________________________________________________________________ As you can see, the legality of this has nothing to do with the results (or money) they are able to scam out of the educational institutions. Just by intimation that this is a rule, the schools could fall into line without resistance. In addition to this problem, the legality of the EULA is determined primarily by the willingness of the user to submit to the license agreement. It is not the job of the government to mandate protection for people against their own ignorance of the law. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." It is the job of the people to protect themselves against their own ignorance, not the government. It is the responsibility of the people to be knowledgable about the laws under which they are administrated; not only does that include state, local, and federal, but most certainly the legal agreements that they themselves agree to! I'm not saying that MicroShaft would not lose in court to you if they decided to prosecute you, for alleged violation of the terms of the EULA. Or that the SPA as an administrative arm of M$ would not lose in court to your case either. On the other hand, M$ has gotten thru existing antitrust law without significant cost to their infrastructure, continuing their illegal operations, therefore I percieve that either you or I would present less than a tangible obstruction. But nevertheless, the point I've been driving at in this thread was, why open the doors to such a costly attack in the first place? LX -- 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같� Kernel 2.4.8-26mdk Mandrake Linux 8.1 Enlightenment 0.16.5 Evolution 1.02 Registered Linux User #268899 http://counter.li.org/ 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같�
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