Beware Vista's End User License Agreement (EULA)

[alfredo]

Looks like they hold all the cards, and you have none.


http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/423

The terms of Microsoft’s End User License Agreement (EULA) for its upcoming Vista operating system raises the conflict between two fundamental principles of contract law. The first, and more familiar, is that parties to a contract can generally agree to just about anything, as long as what they agree to doesn’t violate the law and isn’t “unconscionable.” The second principle is that the law generally disfavors the remedy of “self-help.” That is to say that, if there is a violation of the terms of a contract, you usually have to go to court, prove the violation, and then you are entitled to damages or other relief.

The terms of the Vista EULA, like the current EULA related to the “Windows Genuine Advantage,” allows Microsoft to unilaterally decide that you have breached the terms of the agreement, and they can essentially disable the software, and possibly deny you access to critical files on your computer without benefit of proof, hearing, testimony or judicial intervention. In fact, if Microsoft is wrong, and your software is, in fact, properly licensed, you probably will be forced to buy a license to another copy of the operating system from Microsoft just to be able to get access to your files, and then you can sue Microsoft for the original license fee. Even then, you wont be able to get any damages from Microsoft, and may not even be able to get the cost of the first license back.


Continued at link.

Even if your eyes glaze over, read the EULA for any software from companies that tend to be predatory toward their own customers. It's a good idea to read all EULA's no matter the origin.

[ramapo]

1. Won't happen to me

It will be a cold day in hell before I purchase a Microsoft license for anything

[Blackhatjack]

2. I'm NOT a Pessimist By Any Means, But What Alternative Is There?

IF they follow the course of history, they will eventually refuse to support prior versions of Windows OS and make everyone adopt the more egregious licensing requirements.

The only alternative I see is Linux, or am I missing something here?

[McKenzie]

13. Try Mac OSX

beautiful OS and hardly ever afflicted by viruses, malware etc. I have used Linux but I prefer Macs.

I used Windows for a long time until I got wise to what M$ are up to.

Edited to add - you would have to ditch your PC though but the Mac Mini is a reasonably cheap intro to Apple computers.

[Deja Q]

18. Linux or FreeBSD. But Microsoft is going after Linux,

whining "infringement".

Linux has been around for a looooooooooong time. WHy do nothing until now and why aren't they telling us WHICH patents have been infringed?

Also, FreeBSD - another free Unix-like OS - could be a target of MS as well. And as Apple's Mac OS X is based on FreeBSD, Apple better prepare itself too for the ultimate FUD.

[hobbit709]

3. All the more reason

to switch to various forms of Linux. When I was still running Win98, everytime I had to restore from image, I upped the Volume Name of my hard drive-I went from FUCKMSI to XVIII.

[drm604]

4. Well, then the internet community needs to raise hell about this.

If I'm not mistaken they have changed things in the past due to public outcry.

[alfredo]

6. Yeah, they changed the EULA for Passport. Copyrights and Patents

transmitted over their network became property of MS. They could even alter your writings and affix your name to the altered document. It got changed due to pressure from users.

[Lance_Boyle]

5. Why read them? EULAs are not valid contracts.

At least I'm not aware of any USSC case declaring click-through EULAs to be valid contracts...

If you're truly worried about Microsoft's increasingly hostile attitudes toward customers, try Apple Mac, or Linux. And even if you *DO* end up with your shiny new Vista install going belly-up and MS holding your files for ransom, please understand that the alternative OSs mentioned can read (and in many cases write to) NTFS partitions. The sky is not falling. It's just gotten a bit heavier. ;-)

[alfredo]

10. right loses to might. They can make your suit so expensive it

would not be worth pursuing.


A clerk working at some small company may not have the expertise to recover the files.

[roguenkatz]

12. All the more reason

to regularly and religiously BUYFHD (back up your f***ing hard drive)

[alfredo]

14. Of course if you have the base version, you won't be

able to use thumb drives to offload data.

[PoiBoy]

16. Alfredo.. what do you mean...

...when you say that if you have the base version you won't be able to use thumb drives to offload data?

I have an older computer running WinXP Home, with two external hard drives that I store my data on... I only store boot information and some programs on the internal C drive... this way if the computer should crash, my photos, music and data are safe on the external HDDs...

...are you saying that Vista would block the ability of my computer to transfer data via the USB ports to an external device such as hard drives or thumb drives? I'm really curious about this...

Thanks in advance if you answer..

:hi:

[alfredo]

17. I misread it a bit. It appears that it downgrades your install to

something like the basic home edition.



"The EULA itself does not state which features these are, but the website advises that, unless you can show that you are genuine, you won’t be able to use Windows ReadyBoost(tm), whcih lets users use a removable flash memory device; the Windows Aero(tm) 3D visual experience; or the Windows Defender anti-spyware program.

But the contract doesn’t limit Microsoft to these disabling attributes. It just says that they have the right to limit your ability to use features - pretty much any features they decide to at any date. And guess what. You agreed to it."

[depakid]

11. They're what's called "adhesion contracts"

and so they're of limited enforceability.

You could slip a promise in one to give up your first born, and almost nobody would ever read it. The same sort of thing applies to the disclaimers on those parking lot receipts.

[alfredo]

23. Did one company's EULA state that the act of opening the

packaging was agreeing to the EULA?

[GOPFighter]

7. Yikes!

Pretty scary stuff! Time to sharpen the pitchforks!

[Blackhatjack]

8. It raises a legitimate concern over who owns the information on your computer...

... and to allow Microsoft to reach inside your computer and disable programs that render your data inaccessible smacks of extortion.

I was wondering about the decision of Microsoft to 'make nice' and start cooperating with companies that support Linux OS. It would seem that their cooperation will amount to learning all they can about Linux systems support so that they can exploit it to their advantage.

Linux support companies(ie. Redhat) need to be very careful about entering into any kind of 'alliance' that imposes duties on them to disclose information to Microsoft.

[tridim]

9. Beware ALL Software EULA's..

Or just do what I do, and ignore them. MS isn't really much different than any other OS or software package, EULA's are just CYA and not much more than that.

People constantly warned me about XP's EULA, but I've never heard a peep from MS. It's all FUD.

[LTR]

15. I'm sticking with XP

This whole thing is so wrong. My attitude is, if I spend hundreds of dollars on software, it is mine. That's it. End of discussion. Microsoft has no right to infiltrate someone's computer and hold it for ransom.

This will backfire on Microshaft big time, if it's true. I get the feeling that Vista will be a flop. Just about everything I've heard about it is negative. And it sounds like a total memory and resource hog. I'll pass for as long as I can.

I get the feeling someone will design a 'firewall' of sorts to keep these scumbags out of personal computers.

[Deja Q]

19. Until you need to re-activate XP and they refuse the reactivation.

Go with Linux. It'll run on your same hardware. No need for a $1200~$3000 Mac.

[gulfcoastliberal]

20. Not that I needed this, but I'd already determined my next laptop will be from Apple

MS sucks; they love to abuse their power. If our good ol US and A actually enforced the laws already on the books, this company would no longer be a problem. But as I've gotten older and maybe a little wiser, I see that the only thing that matters is the quick buck. Hell, it's even more important than life! We'll go extinct because of it.

[Toucano]

21. Has anyone tried Solaris 10 or Open Darwin? n/t

[ContraBass Black]

22. They forgot about the clause that claims the blood of your firstborn.

Or your mother, if you're childless.