Re: MS Licensing
From: *Vanguard* (no-email_at_reply-to-newsgroup.invalid)
Date: 05/16/04
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Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 15:41:36 -0500
Bruce Chambers said in news:%23JK0UP3OEHA.540@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl:
> OEM versions must be sold with a piece of hardware (normally a
> motherboard or hard drive, if not an entire PC, although Microsoft has
> greatly relaxed the hardware criteria for WinXP) and are _permanently_
> bound to the first PC on which they are installed. An OEM license,
> once installed, is not legitimately transferable to another computer
> under _any_ circumstances. This is the main reason some people avoid
> OEM versions; if the PC dies or is otherwise disposed of (even
> stolen), you cannot re-use your OEM license on a new PC. The only
> legitimate way to transfer the ownership of an installed OEM license
> is to transfer ownership of the entire PC.
>
And where in the EULA does it say the OEM license becomes bound onto the
computer system in which "the HARDWARE" bound to the sale of that OEM
license is installed? My EULA says:
"The term "COMPUTER" as used herein shall mean the HARDWARE, if
the HARDWARE is a single computer system, or shall mean the
computer system with which the HARDWARE operates, if the
HARDWARE is a computer system component."
Unless I missed it, nowhere in [my] EULA does it say that the license
gets detached from the "computer system component" to become attached to
a larger computer subsystem or all the way up to whatever might be
interpreted as "the computer". In fact, the EULA says that the license
follows the "computer system component", NOT the computer it is
installed. So if it were a hard drive or cable for "the HARDWARE" then
you can put it into ANY computer and the license follows. You have to
be careful as to WHAT the license it tied. If it was tied onto a single
piece of hardware, THAT is what the license is tied to, not to some
"environment" (i.e., computer) into which it gets utilized. Don't read
more into the EULA than it there. The definition of "the HARDWARE" is
not specific nor is it bounded (i.e., issues of repair and/or upgrades
are not addressed). If the license were tied to a drive, you can move
it to another system "in which the HARDWARE operates" because it won't
be operating back in the system from which it was removed (you'll need
another license back there if you still want to use Windows, along with
another drive).
If you purchase a hard disk as the hardware requirement (i.e., computer
system component) for the OEM license, you are STILL allowed to replace
it should it die. The OEM license doesn't die because you have to
repair your hardware. There is nothing within the EULA that bars
repairs. "The HARDWARE" is still the same "the Hardware" after getting
repaired or replaced. Your tire having a blowout and replacing it
doesn't preclude the maintenance contract on "the CAR". It depends on
WHAT was "the HARDWARE" to which the OEM license is attached (and
nothing usurps that license from THAT hardware, including using it in a
larger environment, like within a computer).
I don't know of any [sane] user that doesn't consider upgrades doable on
a computer using an OEM version of Windows. Microsoft does NOT forbid
you from repairing your components or even from upgrading your computer.
You are still allowed to install a modem or replace it with one that
adds faxing. You can still replace that drive whose bearings go bad.
You can still add more memory, or you can even yank out the old sticks
and put in bigger ones. You can replace your floppy drive when it goes
bad, or that CD-ROM drive whose drawer motor doesn't work anymore. You
can yank the 6X CD-ROM drive and put in a 48X drive. Repairs and
upgrades do NOT obviate or nullify an OEM license. Doesn't say so in
the contract, and THAT is what matters, not your interpretation as to
what the writer meant to say or further restrictions you impose without
warrant. If the EULA restricted "the computer" to a static physical and
logical image of what existed at the time the software was installed,
you would never be able to install another program thereafter since that
would change the definition of "the computer".
Read your EULA. Obey *THAT* contract. Know to WHAT hardware the license
is attached. If it is to a piece of hardware then the license is stuck
that THAT hardware and does not get adopted or stolen by its use within
a larger [sub]system. If it is to a "computer" than consider the
license to be locked to that host for whatever it is (including after
repairs or replacement) or ever becomes (through upgrades). Microsoft
is protecting their revenue stream by forbiding the pirating of their
software. They are NOT forbiding you from repairing or upgrading your
computer. They live in the real world, too. Their EULA never mentions
that it is valid only under a static inventory of hardware and software
at the time of installation. Be careful to NOT read more into the
contract than what is there. It's not your job to protect Microsoft or
involuntarily employ yourself for free as their extended legal
department in writing and interpreting their EULA.
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