BinarySynapse
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2006
- Messages
- 15,103
MS (and most software companies) exploit a loophole though. They aren't selling you a copy of the work, they are selling you a license to use the work. They can legally place ANY limitation they want on the license, including the no resale clause.
The morality or longevity of this loophole is irrelevant; this is the way things stand today. I personally believe that the loophole will be eliminated eventually, but software companies don't pursue litigation of offenders often enough for there to have been a precedent setting case yet, AFAIK.
Many courts consider the sale of any software as a sale of goods since there is media accompanied with the license. There was even one case where Microsoft sued someone for selling a NFR copy of software bundled with their computer and essentially lost (okay they dropped it). Not only did they "lose" their suit, there was a countersuit against MS which the guy wouldn't drop until MS publicly apologized and repaid all legal costs. There was also an undisclosed settlement.
http://clevescene.com/2005-03-30/news/kill-bill/