On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 5:04 PM, Nishit Dave <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 11 Sep 2014 12:56, "Pirate Praveen" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > We have now sent a legal notice to HP on this via Prasanth Sugathan of > > Software Freedom Law Center and it is covered by Economic times > > > > > > http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/ishan-masdekar-sends-legal-notice-to-hp-for-compelling-him-to-buy-a-notebook-with-windows-8/articleshow/42219383.cms > > > > Bravo for this initiative, all who are part of it! > > I see some issues with getting a refund and starting a flood: > > 1. OEMs get an OEM license from Microsoft for installing Windows on to > consumer PCs - the terms may be negotiated, and pricing may be very low for > a leading OEM like HP (though not negligible) - would the OEM or Microsoft > be willing to make their pricing public? > One would have to take whatever they declare as price. > > 2. Both the OEM and Microsoft can say that the OS is an essential part of > the system, as the proprietary drivers of some components will not run on > any other OS, and alternative drivers may have unintended effects or > illegal uses (such as SDR manipulation) > Irrelevant. The user has an alternative > > 3. They could also claim that it would be virtually impossible to verify > whether each request for refund has come after Microsoft software had been > removed completely (and we can't allow them to implement a kill switch) > Irrelevant again. They have to prove otherwise > > 4. They could claim that they would be unable to market and sell their > products without a warranty for performance and quality if they are unable > to control which OS is loaded on to the PC, and that blank devices can only > be niche, probably obsolete products > In which case they should be selling the 2 separately. > > 5. Microsoft tax is also the name for the underhand practice where it > extracts a heavy price for licenses from OEMs that sell more than a certain > percentage of Linux PCs, and no OEM would want to acknowledge this publicly > Cross subsidy is a legal offence as per the MRTP act. > > 6. OEMs rely on quick obsolescence, which is accentuated with Microsoft > bloatware, to keep on getting your money every few years - Linux makes this > cycle much longer, plus after sales service harder - so no positive > incentive for them > Irrelevant. -- http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
