Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft FrontPage License Prohibits Anti-Microsoft Speech
According to this story running at Info World, the license from FrontPage 2002 contains a clause that says 'You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN,
MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services ...' An unfortunate clause that will prevent me from my long term plan of migrating Slashdot to Frontpage (cough). There's lots of other nastiness in this article too. Can anyone find that specific clause? Can anyone find the EULA itself? Update: 09/20 18:10 GMT by T : According to reader bteutsch "FWIW, the clause appears only in the EULA agreement for use of the FrontPage Logo, not with the product or server extensions license."
So the fact that this exists, does it not render the license restrictions that MS is putting into place null and void? In other words, has MS just ceded their rights to control Front Page?
(Please chill on the flames. If I knew what I was talking about I wouldn't have had to ask!)
Key to financial independence: Spend less than you earn. Save and invest the difference. Do it for a long time.
I can't believe that Microsoft [The remainder of this post has been sanitized by MS Internet Explorer. Please go back about your business, and remember that Microsoft is only trying to conduct legitimate, non-predatory business. You have been warned.]
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
However it is my understanding of the law that you can create a contract that has a clause in it that breaks the law - (the US Constitution in this case - you know free speech and all) and it just blows the entire contract out of the water.
Seems like a stupid move on the part of Microsoft IMHO.
If there's anyone here with that product and no great love for Microsoft, set up a "lauds" page that the average reader will immediately detect as being sarcastic (like the famous Micorsoft/Space Cadet page), but be careful to say nothing overtly critical. Then see whether they come after you.
I'd volunteer, but they haven't released the Linux version yet.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Okay, so use FrontPage to create your page's layout, write all the words in the page that don't refer to M$, M$NBC, M$N such as "the", "tarball" or "grandmother", then complete your page with VI or EMACS, which are pieces of software released under a non-M$-centric license.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
It's been said before, and I suppose I'll end up having to say it this time.
The more MS squeezes, the more slips through their fingers.
Already, people are pretty much opting out of all this by continuing to run Windows 95 6 years after its release, and Office 97 4 years after its release. Many people have intimated that they'll hang onto 2000 as long as they can. If the longevity of previous MS OS's is any indicator, this may be five years or more.
And of course, there's always our favorite X-Factor, waiting in the wings to scoop up faithful even from MS's latest and greatest.
This effect becomes more obvious the more MS tightens the strings...
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
This does not relate to documents edited with Front Page. It say that you are not allowed to use server-side elements such as the MSN MoneyCentral stock ticker on your website, if you are publishing anti-MS comments.
rOD.
Rod Begbie done this, and he's not
According to this page, you can't use the Frontpage logo on a site that disparage Microsoft. Which seems pretty reasonable to me.
Good lord! Lies about Microsoft on Slashdot? Nah, couldn't be.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
So, show me where in the EULA this is stated. Are there multiple EULAs? Then which one takes precedence ("the last one? well, that wasn't the one I got when I bought it" concept)?
Damn it...THINK PEOPLE...investigate these things on your own and don't just knee-jerk a reaction because someone says something exists. Doesn't help perceptions much, especially if the liars/FUDers this time around are the open-source proponets....
Yes, unbelievable. Unbelievable that anyone would believe it. According to this page, you can't use the Frontpage logo on a site that disparage Microsoft.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
If I say that slashdot is a load of old crap with contributions from a bunch of smelly spotty sex-starved geeks who think something like an operating system can actually be cool I'll get censored into oblivion by offended moderators pretty damn quickly. Here, watch:
<Ducks for cover>
Slashdot is a load of old crap with contributions from a bunch of smelly spotty sex-starved geeks who think something like an operating system can actually be cool
</Ducks for cover>
-- SIGFPE
2. FrontPage*
(*version corresponding to Office XP)
FrontPage web components. For purposes of this section, the Software means the FrontPage Web components, including the MSNBC news headline compone nt, the MSN MoneyCentral Stock Quote component, and the MSN Search component.
Installation and Use. You may install and use any number of copies of the Software on server computers to provide services as part of your web site on the Internet that you des ign with FrontPage and that is not a mobile wireless or interactive television site ("Your Web Site").
Restrictions. You may not edit or modify the Software in any manner whatsoever. You may not display any of the logos that appear in the Software in any manner that implies sponsorship, endorsement, or license of Your Web Site by the owners of such logos. If the Software contains any active links to other sites, you agree to maintain such active links and not redirect or modify them. You may not market, distribute, sublicense, lease or rent the Software on a stand- alone basis. You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia or their products or services, infringe any intellectual property or other rights of these parties, violate any state, federal or international law, or promote racism, hatred, or pornography. You shall not convert the news headlines in the MSNBC component into an audio format for redistribution to audio users. You agree to immediately remove the Software from Your Web Site if you do not abide by any of these restrictions after notice.
rOD.
Rod Begbie done this, and he's not
I wouldn't worry about it, stuff like this wouldn't hold up more than a second under First Amendment scrutiny.
uhhh:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Microsoft != Congress
(...last I checked, anyway. If that changes, time to fall on my sword.)
Really, the EULA is a voluntarily entered contract between the end user and Microsoft, and is not to be confused with a law passed by Congress. One might compare this clause of the agreement to an NDA, in that both place restraint upon your speech, but neither is unconstitutional.
The defense against this kind of practice is not to complain and wave the First Amendment, but to remove Microsoft from the position that allows them to make these demands.
Air Force grew out of the Army Air Corps after WWII and the Marines are officially a subset of the Navy, so the President is officially CIC of those branches as well.
I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep Dracula and Superman away.
Get your state to pass a law voiding such contracts. Microsoft relies on contract law, a state legal system. If the state code says: "The liberties established in the US Constitution shall apply in all contractual relationships; no party shall abridge or void these rights. Any contract which does the preceding shall be invalid. In the event of intellectual property contracts violating this statute, the intellectual property shall be covered under the sections of the state code regarding sale of non-intellectual property to consumers and the property shall be regarded as a physical commodity bought and sold rather than a good licensed or leased." then there is nothing MSFT can do about it.
What will testing it accomplish?
Either the court will throw it out or uphold it. Examine each possibility for a moment.
What is the end result? Even if this licensing provision is thrown out, an MS critic (or several) have spent millions of dollars and their time in litigation. An ingenious way to drain resources from your enemy. [The Borg weapon seems to be designed merely to drain the shields.]
OTOH, if the licensing is upheld, it may mean that copyright law needs to be modified to include features that recognize licenses like this.
Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!
1. You may not disparage Microsoft or any of its products in your use of Microsoft product box shots.
If you use any of the Character Animation Data and Image Files, you agree to...not use the Character Animation Data and Image Files to disparage Microsoft, its products or services or for promotional goods or for products which, in Microsoft's sole judgment, may diminish or otherwise damage Microsoft's goodwill in the SOFTWARE PRODUCT....
What about community sites that allow user posting? If the admin doesn't wish to read every single post to be able to remove all disparaging remarks about Microsoft, then they can't use FrontPage Web components anywhere on that site?
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.