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The accused is an independent PC recycler and anti-electronic-waste activist of sorts. He observed that non-technical PC owners who ran into problems that requi

The accused is an independent PC recycler and anti-electronic-waste activist of sorts. He observed that non-technical PC owners who ran into problems that require reinstalling Windows, upon realizing they no longer have their restore disc, either throw out their computer and buy a new one, or buy the latest version of Windows at retail pricing. This is wasteful and unnecessary. Dell is fine with this because uninformed consumers will unnecessarily buy a new PC. Microsoft likes it because they will unnecessarily buy a new copy of Windows, unaware that they already have a valid license. This seems to be the basis of their claim to “lost profits”. They said that these restore discs, allowing consumers to use a product to which they are already entitled, “displaces potential sales”. Shameful. The guy being thrown in jail was not selling counterfeit discs in any meaningful sense. He was printing restore discs, without the license, and distributing them for roughly the cost of shipping (25 cents each). His copies were useless to anybody who didn’t already own them. He did not sell licenses. You could not install the software without buying Windows. Having these does not even make it easier to pirate Windows. The prosecution apparently originally claimed that each disc was worth $299, showing their total ignorance of how software licenses work.

Bajeezus 9y ago
You are dramatically characterizing the case. The Feds are the plaintiffs in this case, not Microsoft. The man isn't going to prison for just distributing disks, he's going to jail for fraudulently claiming that his disks were authentic and going so far as to get the original disk design printed on his fake disks. The government originally claimed that the copyright violations on these disks were valued at several hundred dollars per disk, but Microsoft had that value reduced to about $25 per disk, so Microsoft actually helped to reduce his punishment.
- lawnchair_larry 9y ago
  No, that’s not true either. Read the court documents. He is going to prison for pirating Windows specifically. The judge even used the word pirating. Which, he clearly did not do. He distributed a copy of what is otherwise free, from both OEMs and Microsoft themselves, and could only be reasonably valued at $0, on a disc. The government even explicitly said that the infringed item was not the disc itself, but the software on the disc. That software was not counterfeit. It was Windows, the same Windows on MSDN, but with no license. Also, Microsoft did not have the value reduced, nor did they help him at all.

Bajeezus 9y ago

You are dramatically characterizing the case. The Feds are the plaintiffs in this case, not Microsoft. The man isn't going to prison for just distributing disks, he's going to jail for fraudulently claiming that his disks were authentic and going so far as to get the original disk design printed on his fake disks. The government originally claimed that the copyright violations on these disks were valued at several hundred dollars per disk, but Microsoft had that value reduced to about $25 per disk, so Microsoft actually helped to reduce his punishment.

lawnchair_larry 9y ago
No, that’s not true either. Read the court documents. He is going to prison for pirating Windows specifically. The judge even used the word pirating. Which, he clearly did not do. He distributed a copy of what is otherwise free, from both OEMs and Microsoft themselves, and could only be reasonably valued at $0, on a disc. The government even explicitly said that the infringed item was not the disc itself, but the software on the disc. That software was not counterfeit. It was Windows, the same Windows on MSDN, but with no license. Also, Microsoft did not have the value reduced, nor did they help him at all.