Add Windows partition to existing Ubuntu Partition

[Derek Broughton]

Nils Kassube wrote:

> Gordon wrote:
>> Amedee Van Gasse (ub) wrote:
>> > On Thu, October 15, 2009 14:16, Gordon wrote:
>> >> Find a friend with the exact same version of XP you originally had
>> >> on that machine, and make a copy of the CD. It's the Product key
>> >> you pay for, not the media......
>> >
>> > No.
>> > You pay for the license.
>> > The product key is just an artifact of the license, just like the
>> > media. Microsoft lawyers would say that this is illegal.
>>
>> So why then, can you go to MS and buy a replacement media for little
>> more than the shipping cost, as long as you have a valid product key?
> 
> Because Microsoft is the copyright owner and they are authirized to give
> you a new copy of their software. If I understand the copyright law of
> my country correctly, I am not allowed to give away a copy of any
> version of Windows even if I have a legal copy of the software. I
> suppose, copyright laws in most countries are very similar in this
> regard. 

Surprisingly, copyright _laws_ are very similar in most countries (ie, all 
signatories to the Bern Convention), but not their interpretations :-)

I'm sure you're right, that I can't just give away a copy of my Windows CDs, 
and yet, by my understanding of Canadian law, there's absolutely nothing 
wrong with my _using_ any media I happen to find as long as I have a legal 
right to use the software in the first place.  If I have a paid-for Windows 
license (and the original key is all the evidence I should need of that), 
all I need is the media.
-- 
derek