Partners to Microsoft: Don't Make Us Licensing Police
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft licensing has numerous wrinkles and is notoriously complex, which
| means it's easy for users to violate the terms, says Scott Braden, senior
| Microsoft analyst at Miro Consulting, Fords, N.J.
`----
http://www.crn.com/software/201802783
With partners like these, who needs enemies?
Related:
Microsoft becoming 'software police,' say users
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp. last week slammed the door on a free utility out of Australia
| that outflanked one of the company's touted security features in Windows
| Vista, by having the program's digital certificate revoked.
|
| Users took Microsoft to task for the move, noting the slippery slope the
| company was walking on, with some blasting the vendor for playing "software
| police."
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9029161
WGA Meltdown Casts Doubt on Microsoft Reliability
,----[ Quote ]
| Gartner Inc. analyst Michael Silver also dinged Microsoft on the reliability
| issue. "A system that's not totally reliable really should not be so
| punitive," he said. "This issue is not really how long it take for Microsoft
| to fix the problem, but also how when the user can get back on the network to
| revalidate. What happens when someone's about to get on a plane and won't be
| able to revalidate for three days?"
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136451-c,companynews/article.html
EULA: What Are You Signing Away?
,----[ Quote ]
| EULAs are not negotiated or negotiable, they are rarely read, and they are
| frequently difficult to obtain, said Rasch. "I just bought an iPhone and
| couldn't even see the TOS until I opened the box, synched the iPhone and then
| agreed to the TOS -- and had to pay a restocking fee and activation fee if I
| disagreed," Rasch commented.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/58451.html
Vista's legal fine print raises red flags
,----[ Quote ]
| For greater certainty, the terms and conditions remove any doubt about who
| is in control by providing that "this agreement only gives you some rights
| to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights."
|
| [...]
|
| When Microsoft introduced Windows 95 more than a decade ago, it adopted the
| Rolling Stones "Start Me Up" as its theme song. As millions of consumers
| contemplate the company's latest upgrade, the legal and technological
| restrictions may leave them singing "You Can't Always Get What You Want."
`----
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/175801
Vista EULA restricts display to one person
,----[ Quote ]
| Paragraph 3C of the EULA states that while the software
| is running, you can use but not share its icons, images,
| sounds and media.
|
| If Microsoft means to word the EULA this way, that implies
| you can't use projectors or linked video monitors if there's
| more than one human being present.
|
| It also implies that you can't take a screen shot of the
| Vista desktop.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35108
Do Microsoft's EULAs have any real legal basis?
,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft has no special exemption from the sale of goods act." Well,
| no, probably not - but it might still be selling you "services"
| instead of "goods". But the real point to remember is that it doesn't
| matter a jot what the "logical" position is, it is what the courts
| decide that matters.
|
| As far as I know, no one has tested Microsoft's EULAs in a UK court
| and, until someone does, Microsoft will just go on assuming that they
| work. And I don't fancy the risk of taking on Microsoft's expensive
| lawyers in court myself...
`----
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/04/25/microsoft_eula/
|
|
