Now This Makes Me Sick
OK, this is probably the most outrageous Microsoft story I have heard in a while.
David Zamos, a 21 year old college student, one day bought the student edition of Windows XP and Office XP from his college computer store for a total of $60. He got back and realized he would have to reformat his drive. He didn't want to loose all the important stuff on it, so he tried to return the software to the store. The store cashier told him that they had an agreement with Microsoft to not accept returns (why the hell would Microsoft do that, anyway?).
After that, he tried to request a return directly from Microsoft. He sent it by priority mail, so he knew when it arrived. Bill replied while counting his money, and it only took him 34 days to do that. He was denied.
So what did he do? He did what any other internet user would have done and tried selling it on eBay. Office sold for $112.50. He put up an auction for Windows XP, but that was taken down by a "Microsoft Investor" who accused him of infringing on the company's copyright.
According to eBay, Microsoft's resale policy is "Qualified end users may resell and purchase software through eBay." He had no idea what he did wrong.
He contacted one of Microsoft's lawyers about the case, and he replied stating several lawsuits where large companies pirated copies of their software and sold it. He replied, asking what this had to do with him and never got a response.
Soo, he sent a counterclaim to eBay and reposted the sale (stating the reselling policy in the description).
After selling for $91, he made a profit of $143.50 from both sales.
Microsoft came back at him with a lawsuit, stating "irreparable injury to its business reputation and goodwill", and even accused him of unfair competition (WTF?)
The article goes on, but I'll tell you that they did reach an agreement after a lot of embarrassment on Microsoft's part.
This kind of thing really gets to me. Microsoft operating systems are on over 90% of desktops, and their software is being used everywhere. Why would they waste their time suing the pants off of a college student who simply tried selling unopened educational software on eBay. They're in it purely for the money.
Article
David Zamos, a 21 year old college student, one day bought the student edition of Windows XP and Office XP from his college computer store for a total of $60. He got back and realized he would have to reformat his drive. He didn't want to loose all the important stuff on it, so he tried to return the software to the store. The store cashier told him that they had an agreement with Microsoft to not accept returns (why the hell would Microsoft do that, anyway?).
After that, he tried to request a return directly from Microsoft. He sent it by priority mail, so he knew when it arrived. Bill replied while counting his money, and it only took him 34 days to do that. He was denied.
So what did he do? He did what any other internet user would have done and tried selling it on eBay. Office sold for $112.50. He put up an auction for Windows XP, but that was taken down by a "Microsoft Investor" who accused him of infringing on the company's copyright.
According to eBay, Microsoft's resale policy is "Qualified end users may resell and purchase software through eBay." He had no idea what he did wrong.
He contacted one of Microsoft's lawyers about the case, and he replied stating several lawsuits where large companies pirated copies of their software and sold it. He replied, asking what this had to do with him and never got a response.
Soo, he sent a counterclaim to eBay and reposted the sale (stating the reselling policy in the description).
After selling for $91, he made a profit of $143.50 from both sales.
Microsoft came back at him with a lawsuit, stating "irreparable injury to its business reputation and goodwill", and even accused him of unfair competition (WTF?)
The article goes on, but I'll tell you that they did reach an agreement after a lot of embarrassment on Microsoft's part.
This kind of thing really gets to me. Microsoft operating systems are on over 90% of desktops, and their software is being used everywhere. Why would they waste their time suing the pants off of a college student who simply tried selling unopened educational software on eBay. They're in it purely for the money.
Article
Written by Justin @ 9/09/2005 03:19:00 PM | Permalink
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