Microsoft wins seven figure sum from distie

Microsoft has won a seven figure sum from a distributor found guilty of selling tens of thousands of items of dodgy software. Netcom Distributors was found guilty of grey importing software from outside the European Economic Area, distributing unbundled and recycled certificates and distributing media kits to unlicensed users …

[Anonymous Coward]

PMSL

"underlines the progress Microsoft is making in its goal to stamp out software piracy"

LOL

LMAO

ROTFLMAO

PMSL!!

[Flocke Kroes]

Why do people tolerate MS EULA's?

There was a time when second hand software was perfectly legal. I have not used MS software for a decade, but I gather the licence just keeps getting worse. How many Vista sales are repeat sales for the same machine just to get one restriction in the license removed?

Apparently Dixons have a pile of unsold Vista licenses. It looks like someone abroad had a similar problem, and sold the licenses here - and this is not permitted by the license?

I wonder why anyone one even considers distributing properly licensed MS software. It does not sell, and if you do find a market you get sued.

When MS sued their own customers it was beyond silly. Suing their distributors does not look like a good way to grow the market to me.

[Morely Dotes]

Gunner! HE! Foot!

A correction for accuracy is called for:

"This High Court win against Netcom underlines the progress Microsoft is making in its goal to stamp out software."

Full stop.

[Joe Stalin]

World Trade

Did I miss something? I thought the world trade organisation and it's treaties were supposed to allow free trade of goods and services around the globe. How can a company lay claim to a thing once it as been sold? If they want control over it then they should not sell it.

Oh silly me, I'm just one of the poor little people. I get screwed and the big guys walk all over everyone else cause they have got money (power).

[BitTwister]

Hmm

> "guilty of selling tens of thousands of items of dodgy software."

Isn't that what Microsoft already does?

[Alan Donaly]

They are

perfectly well within their rights to destroy the market for their software any way they see fit, now shush.

[Lee]

@BitTwister

>> "guilty of selling tens of thousands of items of dodgy software."

>

>Isn't that what Microsoft already does?

except that Microsoft sells tens of Millions of copies of dodgy software.

should their fine be correspondingly larger?

[Tim Bates]

What a load...

Grey Market software... what a load.

They sell it at inflated prices in countries where people are less likely to pirate, and insanely low prices in places they are likely to pirate...

With such huge differences in price, WHY THE HELL CAN"T THEY SEE THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN????

Would they rather we just pirate it locally instead? Do they want the $5 (or whatever rate) or nothing? I know which I'd prefer...

[Brian Clarke]

Even their distis don't understand it

M$ licensing distis frequently don't understand the licensing 'model' what chance have mere mortals. I agree with Alan Donaly!

[Damien Jorgensen]

they can see it

Why does anyone think they have the right to buy a license and break it?

Good enough for the reselling scum!

[Steve B]

If the software was legally obtained why shouldn't it be sold elsewhere?

A distributor buys the software to sell on so if they have legally obtained the items where is the problem. They have had to pay carriage and import duty.

Is it more to do with the fact that the UK is the target mug market for the world as we are used to paying over the top for everything with the full backing of the government against us.

[N]

Microsofts dodgy software...

I recently witnessed a Vista(pre-installed) laptop retuning from suspense. This took over three minutes, it then spurted out an error message which continued to delay doing anything useful, a painfully slow process, despite the laptop being a well specified dual core processor with 2Gb ram.

It seems to me as if Microsoft are just as guilty in distributing dodgy software, dodgy to the point where its so bad, I considered the laptop to have a virus, but no it just had Vista installed & nothing else.

Their software continues to be a classic case of 'The Emperors New Clothes'. Hype, spin & dribble such as 'new ways to do familiar tasks' just dont wash anymore, were fed up with having to re-invent the wheel of achieving relatively simple tasks every time an operating system is up for a bit of 'window dressing'

However, we dont have to buy it & its refreshing to see that the Dutch Government are considering non Microsoft solutions in the form of open document format.

Personally, I wouldn't use Vista even it was free, I look to other vendors & having migrated elsewhere, Ive found over time, my blood pressure seems lower & I'm more productive.

[BitTwister]

@Lee

> except that Microsoft sells tens of Millions of copies of dodgy software. should their fine be correspondingly larger?

Absolutely - especially when considering the damage and problems caused by the *huge* number of Windows-related "little nasties" flooding the net. Why is Microsoft still permitted to spin and bluff its way out of dealing with this mess? And no, it should NOT be up the the user to deal with it: it shouldn't happen in the first place.

[Marty]

software sales .....none...

Microsoft don’t sell you the software.... they sell a licence to use it, with strict rules on how you use it. When you accept the EULA you agree to the rules.

If you buy the licence outside the EU, the licence states you cannot re-sell the licence outside the region you bought it in..

if you then import the software to the uk and sell it, just because the media comes from the Microsoft factory, just because you have the sticker to put on the pc, does not mean you can legally install it... just because you can, and if you do it passes the genuine advantage test, does not mean the software is legal...

there are lots of places you can go and buy a OEM licence version of windows, whatever flavour, but with the OEM rules, it should only be sold with qualifying hardware components... if you do buy a OEM version, with no hardware it is not legal to install....

All the rules are simple to follow, break them, and suffer the scorn of Microsoft...

.