yes, it's all a bunch of crap, but they can choose to sell their products
any way they like, even if they piss off customers.  that's how a monopoly
works, even if their products are crap, and they make a hastle of buying
them.  people still flock to them, because they are the only thing.

oh well

on a side note, the "not labeled for individual resale" _is_ a leagal
problem.  if the food item in question is sold individualy, the company
could get in serious leagl trouble with the FDA for not having proper
nutrition information on each package.  it's a disclaimer, and a warning
to food vendors.

it relates to the label on the OEM software package in a few ways.
hardware vendors are allowed to purchase bulk boxes of OEM labeled MS
products at a discount.  and they are given special OEM install tools.  MS
does not want these OEM copies being sold for retail prices, so they put
that leagal bit that they pulled on you in the package.

what happens is this.. a company, big corperate, and stupid buy's 500 dell
workstations with OEM licenses.  big corperate people don't actualy use
these licenses, they buy a site license for MS products.  some random
admin sticks all the licenses in a box, takes them home, and sells them on
ebay.  even tho the license is now invalid.  this is lost retail sales for
big bill and co.   so of course they are going to try and stamp it out, if
they find the trouble less expensive than the license revenue lost.

it's just business, if you don't like it.. don't buy the stuff in the
first place ;)

Thank You,
        Ben Kochie (ben at nerp.net)

 "Unix is user friendly, Its just picky about its friends."

On Sun, 18 Mar 2001, Bill Layer wrote:

> Ok, I guess I'm just a wee little bit irritated with the folks in Redmond
> today. Someone I know gave me two OEM copies of MS NTWS 4.0 that I decided
> to sell on eBay. Microsoft had the "action removed at their request" because
> I am (apparently) beholdant to some licensing agreement that is sealed
> inside this un-opened software package.  I guess MS auto-trolls eBay 24 hrs
> a day...
>
> Now since I have never opened the package, nor was I aware that there was an
> agreement therin, how could I ever be construed as a party in a license
> agreement? Sure, there is a tiny little blurb on the cover that says "For
> Distribution with a new PC only" - but that is like saying "Use only
> approved cleaning products", or "not packaged for individual sale"... It
> reads like a simple suggestion or inducement,  not a legal order that must
> be obeyed OR ELSE.
>
> How do they get away with bulling people on such flimsy legal grounds? It's
> not like the software is stolen, counterfeit etc. If MS was so deeply
> concerned with the way in which their product might be distributed, why
> didn't they take effective steps at the time the product was released, or
> not release it at all?
>
> Here is the kicker - the email notice that eBay (not MS) sent me, contained
> 1) an email address where they suggested that I might report the names &
> activities of anyone that might be an illegal source of MS software and 2) a
> link to the 'about me' eBay page, where MS rants on about how devastating
> the impact of software piracy is on the US economy, and quotes the studies
> that prove it...
>
>          .... the studies were done by the BSA ;)
>
> They really do own the world, don't they? =/
>
> B
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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