This is a very clear sign that M$ is worried and getting desparate. Since they can't stop OEMs from put alt-OSes on their products they are now targeting the purchasers in order to muscle and threaten them. And as the article stated, any company or corporation that buys a lot of comps without an m$ product is likely headed for an audit. This may very likely backfire because if an OEM reports such purchases they will most likely loose clientele, therefore OEMs may want to think this out. The fact that M$ is trying to turn the OEMs into policemen is, to say the least, questionable. I can't see any prudent OEM subscribing to this because of the potential lost customer base and getting involved in the internal affairs between M$ and the company that bought the computers. -----Original Message----- From: Stuart Powell [mailto:stuart@yorkshirepudding.com] Sent: Monday, April 30, 2001 2022 To: SuSE Linux List Subject: [SLE] [OT] Legal Issues Type Question Hello, everyone. I just wanted to see what trouble I could stir up this evening with an article I found this morning. I'm surprised Fred didn't send it on. If you don't think of MS as the Evil Empire yet, this may well push you over the edge. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/2/18589.html This article raised many questions in my mind. Predominantly, though, is this: Just how far can Microsoft go in its pursuit of pirates without overstepping the mark ? How much of this power can be wielded beyond US borders ? Let's say that I buy a shiny new PC from Gateway, for the sake of argument. I order it without an OS, since I intend to install a lovely fresh copy of SuSE on it, and don't want to have to pay the MS Tax. A vigilant Gateway employee then calls up MS and says "Stoo just bought a new machine without an OS. Please add another point to my score, as I am trying to win my own yacht from the MS 'Shop Your Customers for Profit' promotion". The next thing I get is a phone call from a drone in Redmond. The call goes something like this... Drone - "Mr. Powell, it has come to our attention that you just bought a whizz-bang new Gateway PC without an OS. We will be sending the PC police (http://www.bsa.org) over to make sure you bought a valid Windows licence for that PC." Me - "Sod off ! It's running Linux." Question; can they still send the PC police round to check and see if I actually have Linux on the box ? What about the other PCs here that may or may not be running Windows ? Can they check those just because they're here and they feel like it ? How about my friend's PC in the corner that I will be upgrading with a new processor in a couple of days ? I don't know if he has a valid Windows licence or not. I certainly can't produce one for it myself. And finally, how long is this kind of behaviour going to be tolerated before someone sees the light and puts a stop to this kind of thing ? Let the battle commence... Stuart. -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq and the archives at http://lists.suse.com