Re: Windows XP Service Pack1 problem with activation

["Deus, Attonbitus" <Thor () HammerofGod com>]

At 10:13 AM 9/17/2002, J Edgar Hoover wrote:
> I once installed windows on 15 computers simultaneously using my
> Pocket MCSE (TM)... #2 pencils used to wedge down the enter key.
>
> Mr. Everhard Faber must have agreed to a bunch of EULAs.
>
> I don't think a dialogue box that pops up when when you may or not be in
> the room, or an OK box that may have been clicked by you, your cat or your
> pencil qualify as "definitively acknowledged and accepted an agreement".

Might I suggest that if you ever find yourself faced with a subpoena from 
MS for piracy that you hire competent counsel.
Courtroom antics like claiming your cat installed a pirated copy of XP on 
your systems might make for a good defense on Ally McBeal, but it won't 
play out well in a real court.  Look at what happened to Heckenkamp the 
moment he tried something like that.

> Remember, Windows has about 90% of the market... so it's a good bet that
> 11 of the 13 jurors will have actually dealt with the crud. My guess is at
> least 9 of them are of the "Some error thing popped up and I clicked the
> OK button like I always do" school.

If 90% of Americans shop-lifted a Snickers bar at the 7-11, it would not 
make it legal.  These issues are firmly rooted in business law.  You may 
pontificate of how you might land the  OJ Simpson jury and skate, but in 
most matters like this, you would mostly find yourself firmly bound to the 
law, and hog-tied by the EULA.

> A contract is final when they take your money. Would you want to the
> seller of a house to be able to renegotiate the price 2 years after you
> bought it?

A contract is final when both parties agree to it, or when both parties act 
in a manner consistent with the stated terms of the contract.  In fact, in 
many states, signatures are not required to make a contract legally binding 
if the parties proceed with a transaction.  For instance, in South 
Carolina, if we draw up a lease for you to move into a property I own and 
you don't sign the contract but move in anyway, the act of you moving in 
will "sign" the contract in the eyes of the law [read- shrink wrap contract].

None of this dialog makes any difference.  The law is clear in matters of 
business contracts and such, and talking about people stealing cars and 
suing the manufacturer or using the "my cat did it" defense is a waste of 
time.  Yes, we have all heard the story of the burglar who broke into 
someone's house, and sued them for millions after taking fire and being 
non-fatally wounded. But in real life, most of them die of "lead poisoning" 
and take a long dirt nap while the police pat the home owner on the back as 
they all pose for pictures.   Blah, blah, blah.

--
AD