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Microsoft Anti-Piracy Program Has Hard-Edged EULA | 146 comments (146 topical) | Post A Comment
Any test will do...[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#8)
by Anonymous User on Tue May 02, 2006 at 11:59:53 AM PDT

You know, Ed, the EULA doesn't specify that the test be meaningful, valid, or even accurate. It also doesn't differentiate between positive and negative conclusions.

So, for example: "CPU core temperatures did not significantly increase after installation, thereby proving that the WGA software does not affect performance and must be a really great thing to have. To ensure validity, temperature changes were compared with running CAD software, and graphics intense games, both of which did increase the CPU core temperature."

The above ridiculous example would be just as much a violation of Microsoft's ridiculous EULA as any other benchmark or conclusion. If Microsoft doesn't enforce it's EULA, I believe a case could be made about selective enforcement, or malicious prosecution, or that MS abandoned the EULA.

I believe the whole EULA nightmare boils down to the following question: Who owns my desktop? I have a receipt for it... doesn't that mean I own it?



Dave

Linux -- The windows patch that works!



[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Re: Any test will do...[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#10)
by Ed Foster on Tue May 02, 2006 at 02:00:50 PM PDT

Dave: You're quite right, of course -- I have the Constitutional right to publish even a stupid benchmark without asking Microsoft's permission, and I'd like to think there's not a court in the land that would deny that, no matter what the WGA Notifications EULA says. (But, then again, when you look at what some of our courts have said in cases like the Blizzard/Bnet case, maybe there are some judges who are ready to say that EULAs trump the 1st Amendment.)

The reason I won't publish a stupid benchmark though speaks to why these censorship clauses aren't justified: I won't publish something that I don't believe is worthwhile because I value my credibility. If an honest publicaton does something stupid by mistake, it will correct it when the mistake is pointed out. If a dishonest publication intentionally publishes false benchmarks, there are libel, defamation, misrepresentation and other laws to cover it.

Ed Foster



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re[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#132)
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Microsoft Anti-Piracy Program Has Hard-Edged EULA | 146 comments (146 topical) | Post A Comment
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