🚀 go-pugleaf

98 Guy wrote:
> Jeff Richards wrote:
>
>> There are two important things you need to be aware of about OEM
>> software
>>
>> 1. If a vendor is selling it without hardware, they are in breach
>> of their agreement with MS.
>
> The vendor in question may have no agreement with MS, so what then?
>
> There may be no real violation in that situation.  Assuming that the
> OEM product is "real" (and not counterfeit or a cloned copy) and
> assuming that it's product key has not yet been used, then there's no
> real violation of "law" if a vendor sells it to an end user, and the
> end user installs it on his computer.  Only that last step, where the
> end user must agree to the terms of the EULA, constitutes anything
> resembling a binding legal contract between the end user and
> Microsoft.
>
> Just because Microsoft might slap a sticker with the wording "Not for
> retail sale" or "not for resale" or "For installation only by OEM's
> onto new hardware" doesn't mean that law enforcement have a green
> light to look for people violating those terms.
>
> Microsoft might slap a sticker on their software that says "Not to be
> used to access the websites Apple.com or Google.com".  Does that mean
> law enforcement, the police and courts can automatically investigate
> and charge people for violating those terms, just because Microsoft
> wrote them on the product packaging?  Can laws be created that
> easily, just be writing something somewhere?
>
> If I rent a car, and the rental terms stipulate that I'm restricted
> from driving the car to another state, and if I do, and if for some
> reason I'm stopped by the police in that other state (maybe for
> speeding), will the police also charge me for violating the terms of
> my rental contract?
>
> When it comes to OEM licenses (the license that comes with your
> typical mass-market PC), clearly Microsoft has negotiated the prices,
> delivery and usage terms for those licenses with the computer maker.
> The intent is that the computer maker is supposed to install the
> software and attach the license to the computers as they come off the
> assembly line.
>
> If the computer maker has determined that they have a surplus of those
> licenses, and no recourse to return them to Microsoft for a full
> refund, then it's understandable that those licences (and any
> associated physical installation media) will find it's way to the
> outside world via resellers and other agents.

In spades with operations that go bust and someone buys their assets.

> Microsoft has (in theory) legal recourse against the computer maker
> for violating the original terms of the purchase of those licenses, and
> the legal recourse would be a civil matter (not criminal).  Beyond that,
> I can't imagine that the police have a legal basis to declare the
> licenses as "stolen", or have any basis to lay a criminal charge
> against anyone caught with them or trying to sell or buy them.

Corse they havent.