[CoLoCo] Live by the EULA Die by the EULA

[Andrew]

What about Microsoft having restrictions over putting in MOD chips in
Xbox's? It seems weird to me that they can make it illegal to modify
the hardware you own. It's yours isn't it? Seems very strange that you
cannot modify hardware that you own.

-Andrew

On Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 7:21 AM, Kevin Fries <kfries at cctus.com> wrote:
>
>  On Fri, 2008-04-04 at 06:56 -0400, Michael "TheZorch" Haney wrote:
>  > So, how soon do you think Microsoft will change the Windows EULA because
>  > of this incident?  It would be so like them to do that in order to avoid
>  > paying taxes.
>
>  They can't.  Its one of the reinforcing features preventing reverse
>  engineering.  If you own a product, you have the right to dismantle it
>  and change it any way you want.  After all, a purchase implies that
>  ownership has transferred to you (they may not have to support altered
>  software, but since when has Microsoft supported their software for free
>  anyway, lol).
>
>  Use a car as an example.  If I go down to the Ford dealership and
>  purchase a car, once ownership has transferred to me, Ford can not
>  restrict any modifications to the car, even under contract.  Without
>  them having ownership of the car, they are no longer an interested
>  party.  But ownership is retained by the manufacturer in a lease.
>  Again, a car that is leased is owned by the Ford Leasing Company
>  (whatever their name is).  Now I can not do as I please with the car
>  because I don't own it.  I only own a right to use it.
>
>  If Microsoft stopped leasing the right to use, and sold the software
>  outright, watch how fast the open community would be reverse engineering
>  Windows.  While I have no doubt it is done clandestinely now, once sold,
>  the real big guys will now be able to do so openly and legally.  That
>  could be disastrous for Microsoft.  Wine may actually finally work
>  correctly.
>
>  This ruling should actually be a killer for any proprietary software.
>  Take a close look at that EULA that you blow through on install for
>  almost any Windows based product.  The real good news if this holds up
>  is that, nearly every non-open source product that works on Windows
>  works the same way.  This could be a huge incentive to get many of them
>  to move into an open source, instead of commercial, model.
>
>  --
>  Kevin Fries
>  Senior Linux Engineer
>  Computer and Communications Technology, Inc
>  A Division of Japan Communications Inc.
>
>
>
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