Re: May I sell a novel written with the 'non-commercial' Word?

I think you'll find that your points were made somewhere in the thread, but
thanks for repeating them--and for your assistance in this forum.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"Anup Tawde" <anupt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:0CDC847F-6E1E-43CF-B100-E7ABDB1807E4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I am sorry if I misunderstood, but I didnt get the intention of saying


BTW the one time I tried dealing with HP customer "service," all those
Indian software geeks claimed to have American names
<<<<<<<<

If you observe, many US companies including Microsoft, HP, Dell, etc have
their Software Support centers in India. Infact, Microsoft has their
Office
applications support, OS support, Server support in India. You might
wonder
but Microsoft Word Support Center is ONLY IN INDIA. I know because I am
from
Mumbai(Bombay), India and was working with one of the US giant as Tech
Lead.

These Techs belongs to different religions. Many of them are christians as
well. So, no wonder if you find any Sam, Peter, Tom, Jimmy, Jenny, Joice,
Christine..!

Apart from this, there are other techs who use American names JUST BECAUSE
Americans can understand their names quickly and correctly. So that, we
save
time in understanding names of Techs and utilize the same time in
providing
TOP quality service....!!!

Not arguing, but just a piece of information...!

--
Regards,
Anup Tawde
Mumbai, India


"grammatim" wrote:

On Jul 12, 12:59 am, RBlan <RB...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks for the input. I called MS (thanks for the number, Anup Tawde)
and
after bullying my way up to a supervisor (the first rep said "of
course you
can sell it, you own your own creations") I got the answer from the
honchos
at Sales and Licensing who confirmed Joanne Paules first judgment:
PROHIBBITED.

Naturally, this irritates me. For the sake of the argument, let's say I
write a novel (for my own amusement) in Word Home and Student. I
finish it
and, just to be safe from future software incompatibilities (such as
going
from .doc to .docx), I decide to save my work as an .rtf file. A year
later,
after I've scrapped my Vista Ultimate machine for a Mac, I open the old
.rtf
file and say to myself, "Hey, this is pretty good -- I think I'll try
to sell
it." No way, right? Microsoft owns me. If I'm honest about it the
courts will
grant Microsoft at least half the revenue from this sale, for I
shamefully
breeched a contract that couldn't be clearer: "The software is not
licensed
for use in any commercial, non-profit, or revenue-generating business
activities." Trying to sell a novel is clearly a "business activity"
so even
if it doesn't sell, or if I self-publish and it bombs, i.e. it was a
'non-profit' venture after all, I'm in violation of the license, and I
owe MS
whatever the lawyers can squeeze out of me. Of course if I'm dishonest
about
it, whoTF is going to know about it? Honesty is the best policy, of
course.

I called Hewlett Packard, from whom I bought the software along with a
$3000
state of the art computer to replace my Win98SE system and said, "I
want to
return this software -- the license terms are unacceptable to me."
Sargi
consulted with her supervisors and reported that they could not accept
returns of software sold with a computer system. Blessedly, HP has a
30-day
system return policy. "Okay, I said, if you won't take the software
back, I'm
returning the whole system." More consultation: "We can't take the
software
back but we'll refund you $80." "How much did I pay for this software?"
"$149" ($.99 short, but close enough.) "That's not acceptable -- I'm
returning everything." More consultation. "$100." "Not acceptable, --
I'm
returning everything." More consultation. (You know, I miss my Firefox
spell
checker -- I think I'll switch back after I finish writing this.) They
fold.
I'm getting the $149 and they can keep the change. And I still own (I
mean,
license) this crippleware, but soon it will be in the trash. No part of
my
novel will be written in Home and Student. However I did irresponsibly
open
my primary file of notes for my novel in this software (though I only
read,
did not write), so technically, I have used Home and Student for
commercial
purposes, and I was in violaton of the license terms. I admit this
freely and
I invite Microsoft to send me the bill for damages -- no need to get
into
messy legal proceedings.

I almost paid HP $399 for Office 2007 Standard but at the last minute
I
said "I changed my mind, I'll buy it from a software discounter. I
didn't.
To make a long story short(er), I found out that my old Word 2000 from
the
Win98 machine was elegible to upgrade to Word (not Office, mercifully)
2007
for $109.00 list (See
e.g.http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Word-2007-Version-Upgrade/dp/B000HCVR5S).
Don't you just love a happy ending?

By the way, MS wanted to charge me $79? (I forget the exact amount) to
answer my question as to whether Word 2007 Standard would run on my
64-bit
system since the system requirements say "32 bit browser only". They
said to
ask HP since I bought the OEM Vista Ultimate. Of course the crack staff
at HP
didn't really know either but suggested that since Home & Student ran
on my
machine, I should have no problem. Wouldn't it be funny if it didn't
work
after all?

I don't think you're going to have any trouble selling that novel.

But it looks like you could start taking advantage of your license to
do commercial use by selling short stories!

BTW the one time I tried dealing with HP customer "service," all those
Indian software geeks claimed to have American names like any other
company's. Congratulations on finding Sargi!



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: May I sell a novel written with the non-commercial Word?
    ... Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" ... write a novel in Word Home and Student. ... 'non-profit' venture after all, I'm in violation of the license, and I ... More consultation: "We can't take the ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)
  • Re: May I sell a novel written with the non-commercial Word?
    ... Infact, Microsoft has their Office ... there are other techs who use American names JUST BECAUSE ... Trying to sell a novel is clearly a "business activity" so even ... 'non-profit' venture after all, I'm in violation of the license, and I owe MS ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)
  • Re: License with Windows XP
    ... | They'd have to move tech support from India to outer space. ... We are all just Windows XP users trying to help each other ... Even those of us with "Microsoft MVP" after our names are ... |>>> license of Windows XP Pro? ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: May I sell a novel written with the non-commercial Word?
    ... Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies" ... write a novel in Word Home and Student. ... Trying to sell a novel is clearly a "business activity" so even ... 'non-profit' venture after all, I'm in violation of the license, and I owe MS ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)
  • Re: May I sell a novel written with the non-commercial Word?
    ... Microsoft MVP (Word) ... MVP Microsoft [Publisher] ... write a novel in Word Home and Student. ... 'non-profit' venture after all, I'm in violation of the license, and I ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)