EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
I have been reading http://www.computerweekly.com/opinio...-hand-software
Will this make Microsofts EULA redundant, or is the EULA binding, in respect of selling or transfering for a fee to use on another machine now legitimate ?
If you do not want to read the link, the jist of it is that the EU has said its perfectly legal to re-sell software.
I will say I find it reasonable as the copy of the software has been paid for to the software company. as long as its only being used as one instance.
Microsoft will not like it. and still pretend they have a legal right to stop you selling said software as far as I can see with OEM versions tied to hardware IDs , this is my laymans view of things and not a legal definition obviously as I am not a lawyer.
I am posting to let people know its not black and white issue, I would think a EU judgement would trump an EULA in the UK ?
The fact that the EU or whatever it is is makeing our laws is an other matter, I consider people should be tried for treason.
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
MS don't prevent you reselling, you just have to also transfer the license conditions that apply to the license you are selling (ie keep it with the hardware it was sold for use on)
Ie if you're renting a car you can't then sell the car to someone else and tell them that they have more ownership of it than the rental conditions say.
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kalniel
MS don't prevent you reselling, you just have to also transfer the license conditions that apply to the license you are selling (ie keep it with the hardware it was sold for use on)
Ie if you're renting a car you can't then sell the car to someone else and tell them that they have more ownership of it than the rental conditions say.
I would think that the licence would stop another owner from using the " Windows OS" which would be perfectly legal to sell, but cannot use it because of the licence.it seems that the court is saying its software, not a licence to use code/ software.
Are you selling a licence or software ? The article says the original author / software house will lose the right to exclusive distribution, I presume that means the licence is only with the first owner / user.
EDIT: just added , are microsoft selling software or just a licence I which would apply, I would consider a copy of windows software.
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
MS are selling a license to use their software in a particular way. Like most licenses, you can buy different ones to use the product in different ways - want to use it on several non-concurrent machines? There's a license for that. Want to use it on several concurrent machines? There's also a license for that.
As that article states:
"In addition to the purchase of the licence and product itself, existing contractual obligations transfer legally from seller to buyer."
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kalniel
MS are selling a license to use their software in a particular way. Like most licenses, you can buy different ones to use the product in different ways - want to use it on several non-concurrent machines? There's a license for that. Want to use it on several concurrent machines? There's also a license for that.
As that article states:
"In addition to the purchase of the licence and product itself, existing contractual obligations transfer legally from seller to buyer."
They think they have a right to sell only a licence, but maybe the court thinks its software and the licence is not applicable to the new owner.
The court are saying you can legally sell software on, irrespective of a licence as in the Adobe case I think the software was from in the case. That must mean that the new owner you can use the software without strings attached.
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
Quote:
Originally Posted by
switchmode
They think they have a right to sell only a licence, but maybe the court thinks its software and the licence is not applicable to the new owner.
The court are saying you can legally sell software on, irrespective of a licence as in the Adobe case I think the software was from in the case. That must mean that the new owner you can use the software without strings attached.
Having re read the article I am not sure what the court is saying (head hurts now) The contract is seperate from the licence by the wording of the article, so you may well be right that the hardware is part of the contract with microsoft if OEM software of windows OS is concerned appologies if I have the wrong end of the stick.
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
Quote:
Originally Posted by
switchmode
They think they have a right to sell only a licence, but maybe the court thinks its software and the licence is not applicable to the new owner.
The court are saying you can legally sell software on, irrespective of a licence as in the Adobe case I think the software was from in the case. That must mean that the new owner you can use the software without strings attached.
Well not me, since I'm not in Germany and the ruling doesn't apply in the UK, but even so, they're not saying that. You don't gain any additional features/rights just because you've bought from a third party. You never own all rights for a piece of software for example, unless it is explicitly transferred to you.
What this ruling is purely saying is that if a software license is as close to ownership that it makes little difference (for eg a lifelong license), then it is considered 'ownership' in German law and can be sold on. That selling on has to include all the legal conditions (bit I quoted) - the only difference is any condition 'not to resell' can be ignored. That doesn't exclude all the other conditions.
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kalniel
Well not me, since I'm not in Germany and the ruling doesn't apply in the UK, but even so, they're not saying that. You don't gain any additional features/rights just because you've bought from a third party. You never own all rights for a piece of software for example, unless it is explicitly transferred to you.
What this ruling is purely saying is that if a software license is as close to ownership that it makes little difference (for eg a lifelong license), then it is considered 'ownership' in German law and can be sold on. That selling on has to include all the legal conditions (bit I quoted) - the only difference is any condition 'not to resell' can be ignored. That doesn't exclude all the other conditions.
Yes i see what you are saying.
I do think if the software an OS for example is only used on one machine, it should be OK to move it about as you upgrade, after all it will go end of life when its no longer patched or supported.
Re: EU law, will it make selling oem or any software legitimate for users
Quote:
Originally Posted by
switchmode
I do think if the software an OS for example is only used on one machine, it should be OK to move it about as you upgrade, after all it will go end of life when its no longer patched or supported.
Well there are two licenses you're talking about. OEM and retail.
OEM is for use with the machine it is bundled with, which is pretty much defined as the motherboard these days. If (and only if) you have to replace your motherboard for reasons of failure then you are covered.
Retail is for use with one machine at a time. If you upgrade to a new machine and want to transfer your windows then this is the license you need.
The german ruling has no effect on either of these - you could sell both on before anyway. But the contract still applies after you sell on - OEM still has to be used with the machine it was bundled with, Retail still has to only be used on one machine at a time. In practise, that means that while you could sell the OEM key on, it's of no use unless you also include the original machine.
