6 ms·

he didn’t actually cause anyone to lose revenue. microsoft isn’t pressing charges against him in this case. (to my best understanding)

reimertz 9y ago
They might argue that repurposing old computers and licenses attached to said computer might have an (minimal) effect on Microsofts revenue since that might lead to potential sells not happening. That is the only reason I can see why they would pursue a case like this. But I cannot phantom how they cannot see how this will backfire quite badly, making them look both greedy and environmentally disconnected.
- DoctorOetker 9y ago
  whats next? "Diet coach Daisy, sent to jail as McDonalds loses customers" "CPU designer Claire, sent to jail as its optimized caching algorithm lowers demand for RAM sales" "Louis Pasteur, unearthed from the grave, incarcerated as milk sales fall due to longer shelf-life"
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
    Wouldn't be surprising really. If you base your society on worshiping greed, don't be surprised when it ends up being run by the greedy.
  - usaphp 9y ago
    None of your examples actually use intellectual property of McDonald’s, ram or milk products. It’s like selling your own burgers with less calories and calling them Big Macs and selling them next door from McDonald’s store. You can’t do that according to law
    - RIMR 9y ago
      I don't see your point. You can't use the disks without already possessing a license to use the disks. Without a license, the disks are useless - unless you buy a license. It's not like he was giving people keygens and cracks. He was just giving them the disc, burned from an ISO available for free on Microsoft's website, for the price of the blank medium used - and then giving people the information they needed to use their existing license rather than purchase a new one. His crime appears to have been limiting Microsoft's ability to get people to pay for excessive licenses.
      - usaphp 9y ago
        He was taking the restore media, burning it onto discs _with official Microsoft and Dell logos on them_ and then _selling them to computer refurbishers who would then include them with PCs they were selling._ In other words, people were buying PCs with these counterfeit restore discs passed off as actual Dell/Microsoft product.
    - jonathankoren 9y ago
      But your example also isn’t what happened. A more accurate Big Mac example would be McDonald’s is giving away Big Macs, so you go and get a free Big Mac, and then give that Big Mac to your friend. At that point McDonald’s cries that you’re giving away counterfeit Big Macs.
      - msravi 9y ago
        An even more accurate Big Mac example would be McDonald’s is giving away Big Macs in locked boxes placed at every street corner, but you need to pay for the keys to the box. So you let people know that the keys that they paid for earlier are still valid and can still be used, and you show them how. McDonald's cries foul because they just expected people to buy new keys.
        shaki-dora 9y ago
        How about this analogy: McDonald’s sells counterfeit Windows CDs. Microsoft’s licensing scheme has nothing to do with copyright law. McDonald’s rightfully loses in court. The end.
    - drtillberg 9y ago
      This gentleman is going to jail for making copies of something on a website. I thought Google et al won the right to cache copies of websites without a license. I browse to Google and it does this on a massive scale. Except for the labels, that appears to be exactly what he did. Larger issues in play here and I hope this is not the end of the story. Also, a 15 month prison sentence for this fictitious price per CD? Really?
  - cm2187 9y ago
    More like filling and reselling old printer cartridges. But these examples are not good because the value for software is in the license really. Microsoft distributes the binaries of win10 for free, it is the license they make people buy. So it is rather a weak case for Microsoft.
monocasa 9y ago
> microsoft isn’t pressing charges against him in this case. “These sales of counterfeit operating systems,” Microsoft lawyer Bonnie MacNaughton wrote to the judge, “displaced Microsoft’s potential sales of genuine operating systems.” But Lundgren’s disks had no licenses and were intended for computers that already had licenses."
- jonathankoren 9y ago
  I’m really confused on what a “counterfeit operating system” would be. The only thing I can think of is some Linux distro made to look like Windows.
  - slim 9y ago
    Nowadays counterfeit means the vendor says it's counterfeit. The burden is on the buyer to prove it's not
  - risotto_groupon 9y ago
    the [28,000] disks had "labels nearly identical to the discs provided by Dell for its computers and had the Windows and Dell logos," the Times wrote. As a result, Lundgren pleaded guilty to two of 21 charges, conspiracy and copyright infringement. He told the paper, "If I had just written 'Eric's Restore Disc' on there, it would have been fine."
    - monocasa 9y ago
      But, to be fair, they are byte for byte the same. It'd be one thing to use the trademarks on something that wasn't originally Microsoft's (or maybe had modified it). But this isn't a ghost shift Louis Vuitton bag, it's literally exactly the same. Using Microsoft's trademark isn't misrepresenting the product.

reimertz 9y ago

They might argue that repurposing old computers and licenses attached to said computer might have an (minimal) effect on Microsofts revenue since that might lead to potential sells not happening. That is the only reason I can see why they would pursue a case like this. But I cannot phantom how they cannot see how this will backfire quite badly, making them look both greedy and environmentally disconnected.

DoctorOetker 9y ago
whats next? "Diet coach Daisy, sent to jail as McDonalds loses customers" "CPU designer Claire, sent to jail as its optimized caching algorithm lowers demand for RAM sales" "Louis Pasteur, unearthed from the grave, incarcerated as milk sales fall due to longer shelf-life"
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
  Wouldn't be surprising really. If you base your society on worshiping greed, don't be surprised when it ends up being run by the greedy.
- usaphp 9y ago
  None of your examples actually use intellectual property of McDonald’s, ram or milk products. It’s like selling your own burgers with less calories and calling them Big Macs and selling them next door from McDonald’s store. You can’t do that according to law
  - RIMR 9y ago
    I don't see your point. You can't use the disks without already possessing a license to use the disks. Without a license, the disks are useless - unless you buy a license. It's not like he was giving people keygens and cracks. He was just giving them the disc, burned from an ISO available for free on Microsoft's website, for the price of the blank medium used - and then giving people the information they needed to use their existing license rather than purchase a new one. His crime appears to have been limiting Microsoft's ability to get people to pay for excessive licenses.
    - usaphp 9y ago
      He was taking the restore media, burning it onto discs _with official Microsoft and Dell logos on them_ and then _selling them to computer refurbishers who would then include them with PCs they were selling._ In other words, people were buying PCs with these counterfeit restore discs passed off as actual Dell/Microsoft product.
  - jonathankoren 9y ago
    But your example also isn’t what happened. A more accurate Big Mac example would be McDonald’s is giving away Big Macs, so you go and get a free Big Mac, and then give that Big Mac to your friend. At that point McDonald’s cries that you’re giving away counterfeit Big Macs.
    - msravi 9y ago
      An even more accurate Big Mac example would be McDonald’s is giving away Big Macs in locked boxes placed at every street corner, but you need to pay for the keys to the box. So you let people know that the keys that they paid for earlier are still valid and can still be used, and you show them how. McDonald's cries foul because they just expected people to buy new keys.
      - shaki-dora 9y ago
        How about this analogy: McDonald’s sells counterfeit Windows CDs. Microsoft’s licensing scheme has nothing to do with copyright law. McDonald’s rightfully loses in court. The end.
  - drtillberg 9y ago
    This gentleman is going to jail for making copies of something on a website. I thought Google et al won the right to cache copies of websites without a license. I browse to Google and it does this on a massive scale. Except for the labels, that appears to be exactly what he did. Larger issues in play here and I hope this is not the end of the story. Also, a 15 month prison sentence for this fictitious price per CD? Really?
- cm2187 9y ago
  More like filling and reselling old printer cartridges. But these examples are not good because the value for software is in the license really. Microsoft distributes the binaries of win10 for free, it is the license they make people buy. So it is rather a weak case for Microsoft.

monocasa 9y ago

> microsoft isn’t pressing charges against him in this case. “These sales of counterfeit operating systems,” Microsoft lawyer Bonnie MacNaughton wrote to the judge, “displaced Microsoft’s potential sales of genuine operating systems.” But Lundgren’s disks had no licenses and were intended for computers that already had licenses."

jonathankoren 9y ago
I’m really confused on what a “counterfeit operating system” would be. The only thing I can think of is some Linux distro made to look like Windows.
- slim 9y ago
  Nowadays counterfeit means the vendor says it's counterfeit. The burden is on the buyer to prove it's not
- risotto_groupon 9y ago
  the [28,000] disks had "labels nearly identical to the discs provided by Dell for its computers and had the Windows and Dell logos," the Times wrote. As a result, Lundgren pleaded guilty to two of 21 charges, conspiracy and copyright infringement. He told the paper, "If I had just written 'Eric's Restore Disc' on there, it would have been fine."
  - monocasa 9y ago
    But, to be fair, they are byte for byte the same. It'd be one thing to use the trademarks on something that wasn't originally Microsoft's (or maybe had modified it). But this isn't a ghost shift Louis Vuitton bag, it's literally exactly the same. Using Microsoft's trademark isn't misrepresenting the product.