Wildman said:
About a year ago I bought a netbook that had Win 7
Starter pre-installed. The first time the netbook
was turned on I booted with an installation CD of
another OS and installed that. So Win 7 was never
booted and I did not get a refund from the maker.
Now that I am forced to upgrade my XP box, if I want
to keep support, I bought a new bare bones system
and installed Win 7 Starter using the PID from the
netbook and registered it on-line. Next I installed
a Starter to Home Premium Anytime Upgrade that I had
bought from Amazon and registered that. There were
no errors or problems.
So to my question, am I breaking the law? I don't
think I am due to fact that the PID's used were
both bought and paid for. Also, I don't feel that
this is immoral or unethical for the same reason.
Just looking for opinions here, unless there happens
to be any lawyers lurking that know U.S. copyright
laws.
All Windows installation disks contain the files detailing the EULA.
- i.e. its on your original media and on the hard drive in the Windows
folder
C:\Windows\System32\license.rtf
and also in the following folder
C:\Windows\System32\en-US\Licenses\
- the above contains a folder for all versions of Windows 7 released
(including Starter)
i.e. C:\Windows\System32\en-US\Licenses\OEM\Starter
<qp>
2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.
a. One Copy per Computer. The software license is permanently
assigned to the computer with which the software is distributed.
That computer is the “licensed computer.â€
</qp>
The EULA usage rights for all OEM versions of Windows 7 when prepackaged
with the computer is the same.
- for use solely on the system (permanently assigned) with which it was
provided. Transfer rights are available when you transfer
the software directly to a third party only with the licenced computer
If the netbook came with a preinstalled OEM version of Windows 7 the
above would apply.
When an OEM system is upgraded using the Anytime Upgrade the following
applies
<qp>
b.Windows Anytime Upgrade License. If you upgrade the software using
Windows Anytime Upgrade, your proof of license is identified by
• the genuine Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity label for the
software you upgraded from, ***and***
• the genuine Microsoft proof of purchase label from the Windows Anytime
Upgrade Kit you used to upgrade. Proof of purchase may be subject to
verification by your merchant’s records.
</qp>
i.e. the OEM license assigned to original licensed computer continues to
apply to the licensed computer (and only to the licensed computer) in
conjunction with the upgrade license after upgrading the licensed
computer to a higher level Windows o/s.
Thus no matter how or what is accomplished the OEM licence for a
pre-built computer with a Windows version remains permanently assigned
to the original licensed PC.
*****Note:
Legality and what is 'technically feasible' are two different things.
Likewise 'Licensing' and Copyright' are also two different things.
Copyright
- The owner of a copyright can control reproduction, preparation of
derivative work, and distribution of copies of the work. i.e. authors
like Microsoft can benefit from their creation by controlling who uses
it and how.
Licensing
- A license allows copyright owners to direct how the product can be
used, and allows them to willingly extend (lend) some of the copyright
rights. e.g. licenses like Windows allow use for personal purposes;
however, to redistribute the software permission and additional
licensing fees may have to be paid to the copyright owner (fyi -
redistribution is different than transfer)
