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E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

washingtonpost.com

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Re: E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

#41

Post by AckSyn »

gowld wrote: post #26
ada1981 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the license prevent people from downloading and distributing it explicitly? Curious what is going on there. I wonder if one could sell a USB configured to simply connect to the internet and download the software automatically.

The discs exist because they work on broken computers . A USB downloader would be useless for the tech-unsavvy customers of the CD

If the USB drive booted to an internet based restore method, this would work the same as the CD but instead of the CD "pirating" windows (it wasn't), it would grab the iso from MS or dell directly (possible).

Re: E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

#42

Post by [deleted] »

reimertz wrote: post #30

As a CEO, you can have a business model that is ethically and morally wrong without getting into jail. As a CEO, you can ignore obvious security flaws leading to 100 million social security numbers getting leaked without getting into jail. As a CEO, you can sexually harass your employees without getting into jail. Try and save the world by repurpose old computers, causing one of the biggest companies in the world to…

[deleted]

Re: E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

#43

Post by sailfast »

It's really frustrating when reporters don't link to decisions so we can see the logic behind the rulings. Found what I believe is the opinion in case you're interested: https://www.courtlistener.com/pdf/2018/04/11/united_states_v...

Here's the original request for appeal: https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/02/20/lundgrenappeal.pdf

Re: E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

#44

Post by pweissbrod »

Hasz wrote: post #14

From the article "“These sales of counterfeit operating systems,” Microsoft lawyer Bonnie MacNaughton wrote to the judge, “displaced Microsoft’s potential sales of genuine operating systems.” But Lundgren’s disks had no licenses and were intended for computers that already had licenses." and even worse, "Hurley decided Lundgren’s 28,000 restore disks had a value of $700,000, and that dollar amount qualified Lundgren…

I dont quite understand the basic legal details behind this.

Say I buy a computer with windows pre-installed that means the OS license cost is bundled in to the price of the machine.

Say I have a computer without windows, or maybe an older cheaper version of windows. Is it correct that these restore disks arent a utility to get a free new copy of windows?

Just trying to understand

Re: E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

#46

Post by dwighttk »

mannykannot wrote: post #20
dingaling wrote: post #3

I'm in two minds over this. First, it's ridiculous that someone is being jailed for 15 months for trying to make it easier to keep using older PCs and reducing waste. On the other hand that's the risk one takes when dabbling in the world of proprietary software. Where discouraging people from upgrading is seen as a threat to revenue and is attacked accordingly. Had he printed 34,000 Linux disks we'd never have had th…

The reasoning in your second paragraph seems circular - this punishment is reasonable because unreasonable punishments are the norm in this matter.

neither the paragraph nor comment says this punishment is reasonable... reasonably expected perhaps, but not reasonable.

Re: E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

#47

Post by dghughes »

zelon88 wrote: post #12
vuln wrote: post #5

Gizmodo[1] added this -- "Unfortunately, in what seems to have been a huge mistake, the disks had “labels nearly identical to the discs provided by Dell for its computers and had the Windows and Dell logos,” the Times wrote. As a result, Lundgren pleaded guilty to two of 21 charges, conspiracy and copyright infringement. He told the paper, “If I had just written ‘Eric’s Restore Disc’ on there, it would have been fine…

You're absolutely right. This guy obviously deserves to spent the next 15 years in jail because his startup practically gave away disks with someone else's logo on it that even the original copyright owner doesn't charge money for.

> the next 15 years in jail

True or not with such crazy laws and sentences (250 years etc.) in the US I didn't even flinch at seeing that.

Re: E-waste recycler loses appeal on computer restore disks, must serve prison term

#49

Post by gambiting »

unethical_ban wrote: post #6

This is one of the most unabashedly sinister first-world articles I've read in a while. Microsoft's argument hinges on two damages: Either, they didn't get to charge a convenience fee to customers, or they were losing revenue by people unexpectedly extending the life of their computers. Foolish judges and evil lawyers putting a decent person away for 13 months.

>> The judge said he disregarded Weadock’s testimony. “I don’t think anybody in that courtroom understood what a restore disk was,” Lundgren said.

There's the problem.

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