Hardware Manufacturers Gouging Customers

rahlquist writes "An article over at infoworld discusses that buying that used router on ebay may not be a good deal if Cisco can find its way to screwing you. What's next, buy a used Ford and pay Ford to transfer the license for the onboard computer's OS or face piracy charges if you continue to drive?"

Comments

What's the point?

[Fishead]

At the rate that hardware becomes outdated, what benifit do they think they would have screwing their customers out of trying to recoup some of their costs?

Not to mention that every time I sell old hardware, it is for the express purpose of purchasing new hardware. Everyone wins.

Re:What's the point?

[gaijin99]

what benifit do they think they would have screwing their customers out of trying to recoup some of their costs?

Some managerial types have some very odd ideas about money. I knew a person who ran a motel back in the 1980's. He was charging $50/room in an area where the standard price was around $40/room. Needless to say he didn't rent very many rooms. A friend of mine was his accountant, and he suggested that the motel owner drop his prices to rent out more rooms. Mr. Idiot was horrified at the idea: "If I did that, I'd be loosing $10 on ever room I rented!" Apparently he had the fixed idea that when a room was rented he somehow deserved $50, so it was preferable to him to rent very few rooms at a higher price than to rent more rooms at a somewhat lower price. Eventually he went out of business.

Doubtless the same sort of idiocy is going on here.

The hardware manufacturers have always hated sale of used hardware. Using software licensing this way is just a club to try and smash the used hardware market, it has nothing to do with them worrying about their precious little software license being violated. One copy of software was bought, one copy of software exists. In this situation they have been paid for every copy of the software being used; no piracy is taking place. The entire "You bought a software license from us, and you can't sell that" line is total tripe. It may be legal, but it damn sure isn't right. The law needs to be changed to prohibit that sort of crap.

Re:Good news, bad news re: Cisco

[ShieldW0lf]

What's next, buy a used Ford and pay Ford to transfer the license for the onboard computer's OS or face piracy charges if you continue to drive?"

That would be awesome... I can't think of a better turn of events to bring the issue to the common man than to have copyright laws prohibit buying and selling cars. We need to suggest this to the big automotive companies.

Cisco are heartless when it comes to this

[Scott Hale]

I bought an 831 new (so I have the license for it) back in June. After reading about the recent vulnerablility I contacted Cisco to get an updated IOS version. I thought it would be a simple process, considering some of the comments I read here. I recieved an email back from them telling me if I wanted it fixed, I would have to purchase a SmartNet contract. That was July 18, and I am still running a vulnerable version using the ACL workaround.

Laws that 'just seem wrong' won't be obeyed.

[The Revolutionary]

"Tague and others think the manufacturers' restrictions are just not right. "It's a flat out scam," he says. "Just because it's typical, just because the other guys are doing it too, doesn't mean it's OK."

How is it, in a nation where it is the will of the people that is to be represented and reflected in our laws and statues, our laws and statues reflect not the will of the people, but the will of an elite minority?

What more evidence do we need than this that ours is not a government by the people, for the people, but instead a government by those who have power, for those who already have it?

These businesses and corporations exist, and may operate only as we permit them to; they are by our permission.

We must revoke their permission. We must revoke their permission to buy laws which ensure their profit margins. We must revoke their permission to buy laws which mandate revenue where there ought not to be any.

What was it that the Justice Department lawyers told us, and the technology lobyist told us in their interviews; that it is naive, uninformed, and probably just childish of us to suggest that our government is in the pockets of corporations, and that corporations can "buy laws"?

What I say to them is that it is they who are naive. The corporate interests of today do not need to buy a single new law to oppress us, to wrong us, and to devestate us.

They do not, because our laws, our resources, our nation, were bought and sold to corporate interests long before any one of us were even born.

We are born into chains and we die under their weight.

If you struggle, it only drives those in power to bind us all the tighter. And they grin in delight. And they swim in their gold. And they build the flames higher.

Re:Good news, bad news re: Cisco

[Dark Lord Seth]

Read. The official way on how to respond to a (possible) GPL violation.