Subj : Re: Computers
To   : Jimmy Anderson
From : poindexter FORTRAN
Date : Tue May 06 2025 09:08:04

-=> Jimmy Anderson wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

 MP> That is one way MS Windows got to be so popular.  Most PC makers pretty
 MP> much had to include it on their machines.

 JA> Or else they could't be competitive with their prices. Yep.

The legal rationale was that people were going to pirate Windows anyway,
so punish the computer manufacturers - even if they were going to use
OS/2 or Linux or whatever.

Then, Windows got so big that they required makers to purchase a license
per system or they wouldn't sell you any license at all.

Let's not forget people who went through the hoops of trying to get a
refund on a shrinkwrap license of Windows when they installed another
OS.

It was the same rationale that the RIAA used to get the courts to order
makers of blank CDs to pay into a fund for the recording industry
because users could possibly use blank CDs to copy music (which was
legal under copyright, but details...)

Whether or not the artists harmed by piracy ever saw any of those funds
remains to be seen, of course.




 
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