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Italians threaten suit over Windows pre-install
,----[ Quote ]
| An Italian consumer rights group plans to
| slap Microsoft with a class-action lawsuit
| this week seeking compensation on behalf
| of people forced to buy Windows pre-
| installed on new computers.
|
| The ADUC, which specializes in public
| interests related to TV, internet, and
| telephone, said it would file the lawsuit
| at a court in Florence after the Epiphany
| holiday on Wednesday, according to
| Reuters. The case will be brought under a
| new law permitting consumer groups to file
| class-action lawsuits on behalf of the
| people they represent.
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2010/01/05/aduc_to_file_windows_class_action_compensation/
Italian Consumer Group Plans Class Action Against Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| An Italian consumers association is set to
| mount a class-action lawsuit to obtain
| compensation for customers who buy PCs
| with preinstalled Microsoft software but
| who prefer not to use the Windows OS, the
| association's president announced Tuesday.
|
| The lawsuit seeking the return of the cost
| of the unwanted Microsoft software from
| the manufacturers of computer hardware
| will be registered with a court in
| Florence later this week, said Vincenzo
| Donvito, president of ADUC (Association
| for the Rights of Users and Consumers).
|
| Around 2,000 people, most of them Linux
| users, have already expressed interest in
| participating in the lawsuit, Donvito said
| in a telephone interview. The initiative
| takes advantage of a new law permitting
| class-action lawsuits, which went into
| effect on Jan. 1.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/185915/class_action_suit_microsoft.html?tk=rss_news
Recent:
Amazon US Refunds Windows License Fee, Too
,----[ Quote ]
| Today Amazon credited my card with $65.45. After ordering an Eee PC 1005 HA
| from amazon.com, I asked them for a refund for the cost of Windows XP via
| the 'Contact us' form. At first they told me to cancel any items on my order
| that I wanted a refund for, but after I explained that XP was pre-installed
| on the machine they got it. They asked what the cost of the OS was, and I
| answered that I had no idea but that Amazon UK refunded Â40.00.
`----
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/31/1215248/Amazon-US-Refunds-Windows-License-Fee-Too?from=rss
Taxing Times for Free Choice
,----[ Quote ]
| Anyway, it boils down to this:
| Forcing people to buy something else with what they really want to buy is
| called bundling. It is now prohibited in France, and it is probably so in the
| UK too.
|
| Perhaps these vendors need to read about the Sale of Goods Act again.
`----
http://www.theopensourcerer.com/2009/07/30/taxing-times-for-free-choice/
Related:
French court orders Windows refund
,----[ Quote ]
| In France, it is illegal to bundle software and to refuse to reimburse the
| customer for unwanted licences, under Article L.122-1 of the French Consumer
| Code. The Tribunal de Grande Instance ruled that offering an expensive refund
| option was tantamount to offering no refund option at all, hence finding for
| the consumer and requiring that Asus stump up.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/19/french-court-nobbles-asus
French police deal blow to Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| The French paramilitary police force said Wednesday it is ditching Microsoft
| for the free Linux operating system, becoming one of the biggest
| administrations in the world to make the break.
`----
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU4Lq7tOR_WVOJLZ3IeRaIH03x6w
French consumer protectionists are demanding PCs without preinstalled
software
,----[ Quote ]
| The consumer protectionists of the French organization UFC-Que Choisir
| are demanding of the IT group Hewlett-Packard and the vendors Auchan
| and Darty that they offer PCs without preinstalled software.
|
| [...]
|
| UFC-Que Choisir last year also took action against Sony and Apple,
| taking the two companies to court for allegedly putting their
| customers at a disadvantage through proprietary DRM technologies
| and curtailing their choice of devices.
`----
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/82605/from/rss09
French consumer group attacks PC software bundling
,----[ Quote ]
| UFC-Que Choisir legal officer Sandra Wouhling said current
| practice effectively forced ordinary consumers to buy computers
| using Microsoft operating systems whereas companies anda
| dministrations were offered a real choice.
`----
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061214:MTFH94365_2006-12-14_14-49-22_L14537403&type=comktNews&rpc=44
http://tinyurl.com/yf7kfu
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