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Microsoft Puts SourceForge Clone Into Beta

M$ Mole writes "Microsoft is working hard to build their .NET community and has released the beta of an online software project management site. The service being provided is very similar to SF.net, but problems are arising around Microsoft's license, which (originally) granted all rights to the software place on the server to Microsoft. MS has back-pedaled a bit since their 'beta' license and is working on a new, more "acceptable" license."

26 of 423 comments (clear)

  1. This could be good by SexyKellyOsbourne · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Though it will never be another Source Forge, VA Linux loses a lot more money than they make, and the harsh reality is that it may be a matter of time before it gets 100 "Fuck Points" on Fucked Company and bandwidth-devouring slashdot, freshmeat, and especially sourceforge have to go on their own to survive.

    Microsoft has nearly unlimited resources, and developers of various large open source projects may have no choice but to move to Microsoft's site, at least to use their bandwidth, which is still holding up quite well under a heavy slashdotting.

    1. Re:This could be good by catch23 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You could always profit the way rusty did on Kuro5hin. Ask people to donate money. Rusty raised more than $40,000 in less than a week, I'm sure Malda could do better... That's enough to supply one person's paycheck for a year at least!

  2. Wait! by Quasar1999 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What about Microsoft's MSN messanger crap, and hotmail? Didn't they make the EULA state they own everything that transpires on either network, then remove the clause from the EULA, only to reword it a week later and append it again? Doesn't MS learn from their mistakes? Besides, .net needs to run on XP, so the EULA on XP clearly states they own anything we do on it anyways, so doesn't matter where the EULA applies, be it before or after I submit my code... it's all owned by Microsoft at one point or other...

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  3. Re:Not much different than SourceForge by Dr_Marvin_Monroe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not quite sure that argument would hold up, since publishing on the web is distributing (at least from the author to the ftp upload site) although I am willing to listen if you know more.

    I also suspect that the SF liscense is more like "we got this off the servers, so can you..." and I suspect the Microsoft liscense is more like "..all your base are belong to us.."

    Seriously though, I wouldn't mind MS using something I wrote, as long as the obey all the other rules that go along with GPL. I really have a hard time believing that that would happen though, at least MS following the GPL for stuff that's posted on their "Forge." Do they even allow authors to publish GPL on their servers?....now THAT would be viral if we could free the contents of the entire server by storage there.

    I'd also be looking for some type of protection that doesn't allow them to silence alternative code if it does get published on their site. I could easily imagine some situation where a "TiVO" app all in .NET on their servers gets "pulled" if it starts to take away from one of their commercial offerings. To my knowledge, this has not happened on SF yet.

    I'm still skeptical, but I'm willing to listen if you show me where in the SourceForge liscense it grants such terms too.

  4. Re:Ugh by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As one who just went through .net training, I think I'll stick with Java for my personal projects. After all, VB.net is almost Java anyway, and the JVM has already been distributed with most copies of Windows, whereas the .net framwork (20Meg download) isn't anywhere near as distributed. Ugh.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  5. Re:Not much different than SourceForge by zangdesign · · Score: 4, Interesting

    since publishing on the web is distributing

    But are you distributing code or information? I would think that SourceForge would be well within their rights to pull code from the various projects and keep use of entirely in-house. Their primary purpose is to distribute other's code, not their own.

    It might be a different matter ethically, but failure to follow a certain ethical code is not necessarily an actionable offense.

    --
    To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
  6. typical by erikdotla · · Score: 2, Interesting

    RMS's head must be exploding. "Whip hand! Whip hand right there!!!"

    "By posting Your Stuff, You grant to Microsoft, under all of Your intellectual property and proprietary rights the following worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty free, fully paid up rights: (1) to make, use, copy, modify and create derivative works of Your Stuff; (2) to publicly perform or display, import, broadcast, transmit, distribute, license, offer to sell, and sell, rent, lease, and lend copies of Your Stuff (and derivative works thereof); (3) to sublicense to third parties, including the right to sublicense to further third parties; and (ii) You agree You won't commence any legal action against Microsoft or any Participant or Visitor for exercising any of these rights."

    If you were stranded on an island with an MS user, what would be the one thing ever published anywhere, ever, that you would wish you had with you to shut him up? Yeah, that.

    --
    # Erik
  7. Re:Not much different than SourceForge by dachshund · · Score: 4, Interesting
    But are you distributing code or information? I would think that SourceForge would be well within their rights to pull code from the various projects and keep use of entirely in-house. Their primary purpose is to distribute other's code, not their own.

    They could if that was allowed by my license. For instance, under the GPL you can download and use code for in-house products with no catches, as long as you don't redistribute it. SourceForge can take advantage of this, as can any random third party. I think most Free Software licenses have this property.

    In order to demonstrate the SourceForce is doing something wrong, you'd have to show me the clause that allows them to redistribute code on different terms than those granted by the license I released it under. Then there'd be something to talk about.

  8. Protect your intellectual property by dachshund · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So let me be the 103,345th person to point out the irony in Microsoft's position... With one hand they're painting the GPL as a threat to your intellectual property that could wind up "stealing" your code out from under your nose, and with the other... they're stealing your intellectual property out from under your nose. Ugh.

  9. Re:Not much different than SourceForge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The only thing they distribute is information created by their source code. The HTML of their pages is all that comes out of them, therefore they are not distributing the code that actually creates it. It's the same way plastic.com was able to modify slashcode without redistributing their modifications.

    It's obvious that what really needs to be modified is the GPL to cover such situations. In this case, becoming more viral would be a good thing for the community.

  10. SourceForge Dot Net by yerricde · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Heck, it is called "SourceForge.net". OSDN has made it clear in e-mail to all SourceForge.net members that "SourceForge" the software development management system and "SourceForge.net" the public implementation thereof are two separate things. Heck, in the SourceForge.net logo, the ".net" part is in larger type than the "SOURCEFORGE" part. Did OSDN staff anticipate this competition from Microsoft? "Apparently, Microsoft is going to want to copy our idea for giving free hosting for open source projects' web sites, source code repositories, bug trackers, and mailing lists. Let's make '.NET' the biggest thing in our logo."

    Here are some .NET projects on SourceForge.net: Projects that contain C# language code

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:SourceForge Dot Net by xtremex · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I believe it's IMPOSSIBLE to write GPL'ed software in VB or .NET. Don't the tools have to be GPL'ed or at least freely available for software to be GPL? You can't write GPL VB software since VB itself is not free (and the DLL's used in it are not GPL)

      --
      If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
  11. Re:All your code are belong to us!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    And just how will you know when they will (or did?) use GPL code in their software and not abide by the licensing terms?

    Exactly.

  12. Well, they're certainly serious -- gotdotnet.ru! by justdisguyyaknow · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Too bad that mighty IIS server farm just can't stand up to the heat (I'm surprised it even accepts connections from non-IE browsers).

    Anyways, if you want to have a look at a version of their site, check out their Russian cousin

  13. Re:This is nearly a month old! by Malcontent · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wish the release of VS studio .NET would have gotten more press. Especially the part of the EULA for that which says you are not allowed to write GPLed code with it.

    --

    War is necrophilia.

  14. Oops, they did it again... by E-Rock-23 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    1. Ebay Fraud Article on MS sponsored site (MSNBC) with links to MS auction partner (uBid Ads).
    2. Switch (from Unknown Mac OS version to Windows XP) story written (apparently on a Mac OSX version of Word) by a contracted MS PR employee.
    3. Sudden change of license for a Source Forge clone site geared to supporting .NET development.
    4. ? Stay tuned to Slashdot for the latest Microsoft Blunder...

    With regards to #3: Didn't they say they were going to squash Open Source? Then why are they trying to do the same thing as the Open Source community? What, trying to beat them at their own game? Not happening. MS's "In The Know" bunch is a few hundred (maybe thousand) big business honchos and a few schools. The Open Source community's "In The Know" bunch is anyone with half a brain that wants to lend a hand, probably numbering in the millions.

    We Are Open Source. Windows Existance Is Futile. You Will Be Humiliated...

    --
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  15. Re:All your code are belong to us!! by sinserve · · Score: 5, Interesting

    By running 'strings' on ftp.exe ofcourse.

  16. Veritable storm of ads, spin, astroturf and FUD by SgtChaireBourne · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The last two days on many sites have been a veritable storm of Microsoft PR, advertisements, spin disguised as articles, astroturfing, and FUD. What's up. Are they in a tail spin? Or is it a counter strike from all the negative PR from last week?

    The business side is still being worked on. And we are working on the concepts, too. The truth is, we probably made [it] a little harder to understand...
    --
    Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
  17. How Pathetic by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This all just looks very pathetic to me. M$ are trying to build something that has been there for years, and works just great. Do they really believe they have to code everything themselves, even though others have already done it better? Apparently they think that this is an excellent way to steal people's rights, and it seems to work out, too (see MSN, Hotmail, Passport).

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    2B || !2B

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    Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
  18. only from MS... by zurab · · Score: 5, Interesting


    ----------------------
    Server Error in '/' Application.
    Runtime Error
    Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

    Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a tag within a "web.config" configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This tag should then have its "mode" attribute set to "Off".

    Notes: The current error page you are seeing can be replaced by a custom error page by modifying the "defaultRedirect" attribute of the application's configuration tag to point to a custom error page URL.

    ----------------------

    Am I the only one getting this error on gotdotnet.com? Past this, I was actually able to look at the message board where they posted the license update. To me, it sounded ridiculous.

    First of all, the original terms were totally out of whack. Here's the quote:

    By posting Your Stuff, You grant to Microsoft, under all of Your intellectual property and proprietary rights the following worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty free, fully paid up rights: (1) to make, use, copy, modify and create derivative works of Your Stuff; (2) to publicly perform or display, import, broadcast, transmit, distribute, license, offer to sell, and sell, rent, lease, and lend copies of Your Stuff (and derivative works thereof); (3) to sublicense to third parties, including the right to sublicense to further third parties; and (ii) You agree You won't commence any legal action against Microsoft or any Participant or Visitor for exercising any of these rights.

    In short, all your base are belong to us!!! Huh? If I do post my project on gotdotnet, I will have to give up all IP rights to anything I create under that project to MS. I have to give them the right to unconditionally modify, redistribute, relicense for a fee, etc. and I won't have any rights to what I create. I have to imagine that someone actually sat down and thought that this was a fair deal! No shit they got a huge backlash from developers. Then there is the modified version of the license:

    By posting Your Stuff to a Workspace, You understand and agree that you're giving a license under your intellectual property rights to all authorized users of the Workspace, including the rights to download, copy, modify, distribute and repost. In addition, you're giving Microsoft all the necessary rights to make Your Stuff available as part of the Project.

    This has less legalese obviously, but all the details are now gone! There are no clear conditions that I am agreeing to; too generalized which makes me think that it eventually gives more power to MS to work out the details. These include and are not limited to:

    - can I use my own license terms for use, distribution, modification, copyright notice?
    - am I effectively giving up copyright when I agree to give everyone rights to download, copy, modify, redistribute and repost?
    - can any user sublicense my work on their terms with their license for either commercial or non-commercial uses?
    - what if there are patents involved? Am I giving up rights to my patents too?
    - etc., etc., etc.

    My understanding is that as one of the comments said in the reply to the above copyright change notice,

    Why don't you just specify that you accept that the other authorized members of the workspaces will be able to work on the stuff in the workspace under the Licence the project owner defines... There is no need to give anybody a special licence... The wks owner tells that his project is under bsd licence for example, then, the only special right I will grant to MS is that I accept that MS will provide my files to others under the licence I defined. what is complicated here ? Why should they require something different ? If MS wants to use the file sin the project thay should also be bound to the defined licence, not the other way...

    I think I have an answer why this is not going to happen; because MS is afraid developers will start using GPL for their works. With recent MS stances toward GPL apps, such as licenses that prohibit running or interfacing with GPL apps, I don't think they will allow developers to choose their own license. Rather, MS does want to force their terms on the developers. I am wondering how all this will play out.

  19. Re:GotDotIIS? by bkowitz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In case you were wondering, here is the explicit ASP error:

    "Server Error in '/' Application.

    Runtime Error

    Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine. ..."

    More evidence that it's a security problem and not scheduled downtime. Security problems with IIS? I've never heard of such a thing!

    But then again, downtime like this is nothing new:
    http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=www .gotdo tnet.com&submit=Examine

  20. VA Purcased by Microsoft = Scary Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Do we have protection in the case that MS does purchase VA?

    What would happen if MS bought VA and "shut down" source-forge and slashdot? Has anyone given this serious thought?

    January 13, 2003: VA Linux Systems, inc. formally announces it's acquisition by Microsoft Corp. today. When questioned about the acquisition, Steve Bhaller of Microsoft indicated that he was excited about switching all the terrific work bein done in the Linux community to .NET and apologized for the inconvenience of taking down slashdot and SorceForge, but indicated that they were no longer neccessary for the furtherance of Microsoft's objectives.

  21. Re:C# vs Java by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 4, Interesting

    J2SE sdk and Tomcat != Visual Studio .NET. It's more like they are equivalent to the .NET runtime and SDK (which can also be downloaded for free). VS.NET is a full IDE, etc.

  22. hmm.... by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I read this and thought, "no way this is true, sounds like Free Software FUD to me." The article below talks about CIFS (common internet File System, which is file sharing NOTHING to do with VS.NET).

    So I pulled out my VS.net disk and looked at the Eula. Can someone explain how this prevents release of software under the GPL. A google search led to little information on the topic.

    At first glance, section 3.1(b) looks suspicious, like it's saying you can't make required redistribution of the source code changes to your product a requirement of usage (a core part of the GPL, obviously), but a closer read shows that it is referring to the sample code in the SDK. In other words you can't take SDK samples, make a product from them and make that product GPL. It's basically a licensing restriction on the sample code in the SDK. Is that right? It seems like Microsoft is worried that the GPL will "infect" it thru the sample code, which is ridiculous, I know, but there ya go.

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    (b) Client Software. You may make, use and install the Client Software on any number of Devices for use by others, provided that such use is solely in conjunction with the design, development and testing of software products created by you that operate in conjunction with the Server Software.

    4.2 Other Rights and Restrictions Regarding the Server Components.

    (a) Windows 2000 Server. The Server Software for the Server Component identified as Windows 2000 Server may be used by no more than four (4) processors of the Server at any one time.

    (b) Use of Redistributable Software ("SDK Software"). If included as part of a Server Component, you may install and use copies of the SDK Software on one or more computers located at your premises solely for the purpose of building applications that work in conjunction with the Server Software that accompanies the corresponding SDK Software ("Applications"). You may modify the Sample Code (identified in the "samples" directories) to design, develop, and test your Applications, and may reproduce and use the Sample Code, as modified, on one or more computers located at your premises. You may also reproduce and distribute the Sample Code, along with any modifications you make thereto (for purposes of this section, "modifications" shall mean enhancements to the functionality of the Sample Code), and any other files that may be listed and identified in a REDIST.TXT file as "redistributable" (collectively, the "Redistributable Code") provided that you comply with the terms of Section3.1 above.

    5. DESCRIPTION OF OTHER RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS

    5.1 Not For Resale Software. If the Product is labeled "Not For Resale" or "NFR," then you may not resell, or otherwise transfer for value, the Product.

    5.2 Limitations on Reverse Engineering, Decompilation, and Disassembly. You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Product, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation.

    5.3 Rental. You may not rent, lease or lend the Product.

    5.4 Trademarks. This EULA does not grant you any rights in connection with any trademarks or service marks of Microsoft.

    5.5 Consent to Use of Data. You agree that Microsoft and its affiliates may collect and use technical information gathered as part of the product support services provided to you, if any, related to the Product. Microsoft may use this information solely to improve our products or to provide customized services or technologies to you and will not disclose this information in a form that personally identifies you.

    5.6 Software Transfer. The initial user of the Product may make a one-time permanent transfer of this EULA and Product only directly to an end user. This transfer must include all of the Product (including all component parts, the media and printed materials, any upgrades, this EULA, and, if applicable, the Certificate of Authenticity). Such transfer may not be by way of consignment or any other indirect transfer. The transferee of such one-time transfer must agree to comply with the terms of this EULA, including the obligation not to further transfer this EULA and Product.

    5.7 Separation of Components. The Product is licensed as a single product. Its component parts may not be separated for use by more than one user.

    5.8 Termination. Without prejudice to any other rights, Microsoft may terminate this EULA if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this EULA. In such event, you must destroy all copies of the Product and all of its component parts.

    5.9 Benchmark Testing. You may not disclose the results of any benchmark test of the .NET Framework component of the Product to any third party without Microsoft's prior written approval.

    6. PRERELEASE CODE. Portions of the Product may be identified as prerelease code ("Prerelease Code"). Such Prerelease Code is not at the level of performance and compatibility of the final, generally available product offering. The Prerelease Code may not operate correctly and may be substantially modified prior to first commercial shipment. Microsoft is not obligated to make this or any later version of the Prerelease Code commercially available. The grant of license to use Prerelease Code expires upon availability of a commercial release of the Prerelease Code from Microsoft. NOTE: In the event that Prerelease Code contains a separate end-user license agreement, the terms and conditions of such end-user license agreement shall govern your use of the corresponding Prerelease Code.

    7. UPGRADES. To use a Product identified as an upgrade, you must first be licensed for the product identified by Microsoft as eligible for the upgrade. After upgrading, you may no longer use the product that formed the basis for your upgrade eligibility.You may use the resulting upgraded product only in accordance with the terms of this EULA. If the Product is an upgrade of a component of a package of software programs that you licensed as a single product, the Product may be used and transferred only as part of that single product package and may not be separated for use by more than one end user.

    8. DOWNGRADES. Instead of installing and using the Product, you may install and use one copy of an earlier version of the Product, provided that you completely remove such earlier version and install the original Product within a reasonable time. Your use of such earlier version shall be governed by this EULA, and your rights to use such earlier version shall terminate when you install the original Product.

    9. NOTE ON JAVA SUPPORT. THE PRODUCT MAY CONTAIN SUPPORT FOR PROGRAMS WRITTEN IN JAVA. JAVA TECHNOLOGY IS NOT FAULT TOLERANT AND IS NOT DESIGNED, MANUFACTURED, OR INTENDED FOR USE OR RESALE AS ONLINE CONTROL EQUIPMENT IN HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS REQUIRING FAIL-SAFE PERFORMANCE, SUCH AS IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL, DIRECT LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES, OR WEAPONS SYSTEMS, IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF JAVA TECHNOLOGY COULD LEAD DIRECTLY TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE. Sun Microsystems, Inc. has contractually obligated Microsoft to make this disclaimer.

    10. LIMITED WARRANTY FOR PRODUCT ACQUIRED IN THE US AND CANADA.
    Except with respect to the Redistributables, which are provided "AS IS," without warranty of any kind, Microsoft warrants that the Product will perform substantially in accordance with the accompanying materials for a period of ninety days from the date of receipt.
    If an implied warranty or condition is created by your state/jurisdiction and federal or state/provincial law prohibits disclaimer of it, you also have an implied warranty or condition, BUT ONLY AS TO DEFECTS DISCOVERED DURING THE PERIOD OF THIS LIMITED WARRANTY (NINETY DAYS). AS TO ANY DEFECTS DISCOVERED AFTER THE NINETY (90) DAY PERIOD, THERE IS NO WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND. Some states/jurisdictions do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty or condition lasts, so the above limitation may not apply to you.

    Any supplements or updates to the Product, including without limitation, any (if any) service packs or hot fixes provided to you after the expiration of the ninety day Limited Warranty period are not covered by any warranty or condition, express, implied or statutory.
    LIMITATION ON REMEDIES; NO CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES. Your exclusive remedy for any breach of this Limited Warranty is as set forth below. Except for any refund elected by Microsoft, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, if the Product does not meet Microsoft's Limited Warranty, and, to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law, even if any remedy fails of its essential purpose. The terms of Section 12 below ("Exclusion of Incidental, Consequential and Certain Other Damages") are also incorporated into this Limited Warranty. Some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. This Limited Warranty gives you specific legal rights. You may have others which vary from state/jurisdiction to state/jurisdiction. YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY. Microsoft's and its suppliers' entire liability and your exclusive remedy shall be, at Microsoft's option from time to time exercised subject to applicable law, (a)return of the price paid (if any) for the Product, or (b)repair or replacement of the Product, that does not meet this Limited Warranty and that is returned to Microsoft with a copy of your receipt. You will receive the remedy elected by Microsoft without charge, except that you are responsible for any expenses you may incur (e.g. cost of shipping the Product to Microsoft). This Limited Warranty is void if failure of the Product has resulted from accident, abuse, misapplication, abnormal use or a virus. Any replacement Product will be warranted for the remainder of the original warranty period or thirty (30) days, whichever is longer. Outside the United States or Canada, neither these remedies nor any product support services offered by Microsoft are available without proof of purchase from an authorized international source. To exercise your remedy, contact: Microsoft, Attn. Microsoft Sales Information Center/One Microsoft Way/Redmond, WA 98052-6399, or the Microsoft subsidiary serving your country.

    LIMITED WARRANTY FOR PRODUCT ACQUIRED OUTSIDE THE US OR CANADA.
    FOR THE LIMITED WARRANTIES AND SPECIAL PROVISIONS PERTAINING TO YOUR PARTICULAR JURISDICTION, PLEASE REFER TO YOUR WARRANTY BOOKLET INCLUDED WITH THIS PACKAGE OR PROVIDED WITH THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT PRINTED MATERIALS.

    11. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. The Limited Warranty that appears above is the only express warranty made to you and is provided in lieu of any other express warranties (if any) created by any documentation, packaging, or other communications. Except for the Limited Warranty and to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Microsoft and its suppliers provide the Product and support services (if any) AS IS AND WITH ALL FAULTS, and hereby disclaim all other warranties and conditions, either express, implied or statutory, including, but not limited to, any (if any) implied warranties, duties or conditions of merchantability, of fitness for a particular purpose, of reliability or availability, of accuracy or completeness of responses, of results, of workmanlike effort, of lack of viruses, and of lack of negligence, all with regard to the Product, and the provision of or failure to provide support or other services, information, software, and related content through the Product or otherwise arising out of the use of the Product. ALSO, THERE IS NO WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, QUIET POSSESSION, CORRESPONDENCE TO DESCRIPTION OR NON-INFRINGEMENT WITH REGARD TO THE PRODUCT.

    12. EXCLUSION OF INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL AND CERTAIN OTHER DAMAGES. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS OR CONFIDENTIAL OR OTHER INFORMATION, FOR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, FOR PERSONAL INJURY, FOR LOSS OF PRIVACY, FOR FAILURE TO MEET ANY DUTY INCLUDING OF GOOD FAITH OR OF REASONABLE CARE, FOR NEGLIGENCE, AND FOR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY OR OTHER LOSS WHATSOEVER) ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT, THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT OR OTHER SERVICES, INFORMATON, SOFTWARE, AND RELATED CONTENT THROUGH THE PRODUCT OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE PRODUCT, OR OTHERWISE UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY PROVISION OF THIS EULA, EVEN IN THE EVENT OF THE FAULT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF CONTRACT OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OF MICROSOFT OR ANY SUPPLIER, AND EVEN IF MICROSOFT OR ANY SUPPLIER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

    13. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES. You may link to third party sites through the use of the Product. The third party sites are not under the control of Microsoft, and Microsoft is not responsible for the contents of any third party sites, any links contained in third party sites, or any changes or updates to third party sites. Microsoft is not responsible for webcasting or any other form of transmission received from any third party sites. Microsoft is providing these links to third party sites to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply an endorsement by Microsoft of the third party site.

    14. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND REMEDIES. Notwithstanding any damages that you might incur for any reason whatsoever (including, without limitation, all damages referenced above and all direct or general damages), the entire liability of Microsoft and any of its suppliers under any provision of this EULA and your exclusive remedy for all of the foregoing (except for any remedy of repair or replacement elected by Microsoft with respect to any breach of the Limited Warranty) shall be limited to the greater of the amount actually paid by you for the Product or U.S.$5.00. The foregoing limitations, exclusions and disclaimers (including Sections 10, 11 and 12 above) shall apply to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, even if any remedy fails its essential purpose.

    15. U.S. GOVERNMENT LICENSE RIGHTS. All Product provided to the U.S. Government pursuant to solicitations issued on or after December 1, 1995 is provided with the commercial license rights and restrictions described elsewhere herein. All Product provided to the U.S. Government pursuant to solicitations issued prior to December 1, 1995 is provided with "Restricted Rights" as provided for in FAR, 48 CFR 52.227-14 (JUNE 1987) or DFAR, 48 CFR 252.227-7013 (OCT 1988), as applicable.

    16. EXPORT RESTRICTIONS. You acknowledge that the Product is of U.S. origin and subject to U.S. export jurisdiction. You agree to comply with all applicable international and national laws that apply to the Product, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, as well as end-user, end-use, and destination restrictions issued by U.S. and other governments. For additional information see .

    17. APPLICABLE LAW. If you acquired this Product in the United States, this EULA is governed by the laws of the State of Washington. If you acquired this Product in Canada, unless expressly prohibited by local law, this EULA is governed by the laws in force in the Province of Ontario, Canada; and, in respect of any dispute which may arise hereunder, you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal and provincial courts sitting in Toronto, Ontario. If this Product was acquired outside the United States, then local law may apply.

    18. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This EULA (including any addendum or amendment to this EULA which is included with the Product) are the entire agreement between you and Microsoft relating to the Product and the support services (if any) and they supersede all prior or contemporaneous oral or written communications, proposals and representations with respect to the Product or any other subject matter covered by this EULA. To the extent the terms of any Microsoft policies or programs for support services conflict with the terms of this EULA, the terms of this EULA shall control.

    19. The Product is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws and treaties. Microsoft or its suppliers own the title, copyright, and other intellectual property rights in the Product. The Product is licensed, not sold.

  23. Horrifying thought by Dirtside · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just had a horrifying thought... maybe it's far-fetched, but it's worth posting.

    What if Microsoft is doing all these stupid PR moves on purpose? The intent might be to make MS look like a big, goofy, harmless company rather than their usual Sinister Evil(TM) look. "Oops! We hired one of our PR people to write an 'unbiased' switching story. Oops! We put an insanely silly license up on our project management software. D'oh, aren't we goofy!"

    I dunno, maybe it's just coincidence, but such a plan might actually help their reputation -- getting people who see them as evil bastards to think of them as merely incompetent goofballs would be a first step toward reducing resistance to their efforts. (After all, resistance is futile.)

    --
    "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
  24. wtf is w/ the site design by dextr0us · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I dont know about you, but as a web designer, i think that possibly has to be one of the most amaeturish looking pages i've ever seen. It rivals people with geocities creativity.

    --
    "Martha Stewart can lick my Scrotum......do i have a scrotum?" -- Sharon Osbourne