3 ms·

The WaPo has a great writeup on this case, relevant quotes below: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/24/recycling-innovator-eric-lundgren

by btown 8y ago

The WaPo has a great writeup on this case, relevant quotes below: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/24/recycling-innovator-eric-lundgren-loses-appeal-on-computer-restore-discs-must-serve-15-month-prison-term/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7758dc6a1885 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/24... """ The appeals court upheld a federal district judge’s ruling that the disks made by Eric Lundgren to restore Microsoft operating systems had a value of $25 apiece, even though they could be downloaded free and could be used only on computers with a valid Microsoft license. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit initially granted Lundgren an emergency stay of his prison sentence, shortly before he was to surrender, but then affirmed his original 15-month sentence and $50,000 fine without hearing oral argument in a ruling issued April 11.... Glenn Weadock, a former expert witness for the government in its antitrust case against Microsoft, was asked, “In your opinion, without a code, either product key or COA [Certificate of Authenticity], what is the value of these reinstallation disks?” “Zero or near zero,” Weadock said. Why would anybody pay for one? Lundgren’s lawyer asked. “There is a convenience factor associated with them,” Weadock said. Still, [U.S. District Judge] Hurley decided Lundgren’s 28,000 restore disks had a value of $700,000, and that dollar amount qualified Lundgren for a 15-month term and a $50,000 fine. The judge said he disregarded Weadock’s testimony. “I don’t think anybody in that courtroom understood what a restore disk was,” Lundgren said. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit deferred to Hurley in his judgment that Weadock was not credible and that “while experts on both sides may have identified differences in functionality in the discs, [Hurley] did not clearly err in finding them substantially equivalent.” The ruling was written by Judges William H. Pryor Jr., Beverly B. Martin and R. Lanier Anderson. """

DanBC 8y ago
One of the reasons they put that value on the discs is because Lundgren was trying to sell the discs for that much. He spent $80,000 creating 16,000 discs. That's not "no value". ---begin--- COURT: What is your view why somebody is going to China to have 16,000 counterfeit discs produced? What do you think they are doing? Is this a charitable thing? I don’t mean to be—what is your take on this? You say it has no value, it might be convenient for the customer. What do you think is going on? They spent $80,000, if I understand one of the exhibits, to produce this. What do you think was happening? WEADOCK: I can’t speak for the Defendant, Your Honor. COURT: But you need to speak. You came in and told me, in your expert opinion, these have no value at all, which I understand that. WEADOCK: Right. COURT: Here is clearly a criminal enterprise, these gentlemen have pled guilty to crimes, and we know from the exhibits—again, I don’t have it right in front of me, but looking at the monies from Chase and so on, it is about $80,000. What is your sense as to what was being done? WEADOCK: My sense is that the discs have value as a convenience to the end user who will be able to install Windows on those computers. ---end Note that the customers didn't need these discs. They could have ordered replacements from the OEM.

by btown 8y ago

DanBC 8y ago

One of the reasons they put that value on the discs is because Lundgren was trying to sell the discs for that much. He spent $80,000 creating 16,000 discs. That's not "no value". ---begin--- COURT: What is your view why somebody is going to China to have 16,000 counterfeit discs produced? What do you think they are doing? Is this a charitable thing? I don’t mean to be—what is your take on this? You say it has no value, it might be convenient for the customer. What do you think is going on? They spent $80,000, if I understand one of the exhibits, to produce this. What do you think was happening? WEADOCK: I can’t speak for the Defendant, Your Honor. COURT: But you need to speak. You came in and told me, in your expert opinion, these have no value at all, which I understand that. WEADOCK: Right. COURT: Here is clearly a criminal enterprise, these gentlemen have pled guilty to crimes, and we know from the exhibits—again, I don’t have it right in front of me, but looking at the monies from Chase and so on, it is about $80,000. What is your sense as to what was being done? WEADOCK: My sense is that the discs have value as a convenience to the end user who will be able to install Windows on those computers. ---end Note that the customers didn't need these discs. They could have ordered replacements from the OEM.