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Used Microsoft Licenses For Sale
An anonymous reader writes "A secondhand dealer in Britain has been given the green light by Microsoft to resell software licenses from insolvent or downsizing companies, ZDNet is reporting. The reseller, Disclic, is legally allowed to sell the licenses at a discounted rate of between 20 percent to 50 percent, much lower than Microsoft's resellers. Partners of the software giant have expressed unhappiness over the issue as it undercuts their business. "I've never heard the like, and I am stunned," said Gordon Davies, the commercial director of Microsoft reseller Compusys. "This is clearly going to take away revenue from the channel and from Microsoft," he said."
I can't wait for the day I can buy "used" mp3s too!
perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
It's unlikely one second-hand dealer is going to change Microsofts fortunes whilst it might be beneficial to him it'd be hard to imagine enough 2nd hand licenses being found to come anywhere close to the ammount of new licenses required daily in terms of volume. "This is clearly going to take away revenue from the channel and from Microsoft," Yeah but how much? MS wouldnt've given the green light if they hadn't analyzed the situation and determined that it was very insignificant to them.
From the Wikipedia article on first sale:
District courts in California and Texas have issued decisions applying the doctrine of first sale for bundled computer software in Softman v. Adobe (2001) and Novell, Inc. v. CPU Distrib., Inc. (2000) even if the software contains a EULA prohibiting resale.
M$ can grumble all they want, but (at least for some of us) reselling Windows is a legal right regardless of the contents of the EULA.
I wouldn't necessarily say that's a good comparison. A used car is not necessarily in as good a condition as when it was brand new. Software on the other hand, whether you got it brand new from a shop or from a one of these resellers doesnt really matter. It's not as if they would be selling it with the disclaimer 'Microsoft Windows 2000, good working order except due to excessive use, Microsoft Paint no longer works and should be replaced' :)
At hamfests you always could find someone with gobs of copies of just out of date and old MS apps and OS's with the magical license sticker or certificate for dirt. Hell last year at Dayton you could buy unmarked offbrand OEM XP pro licenses for $25.00 each that register just fine.
This is simply large scale with MS's blessing. Others have been doing it anyways and telling MS to f themselves for years.
I bought 4 copies to sell with laptops I rebuild/recondition. Microsoft would call me a pirate/evil person but I really dont give a rats ass what they think. They register, validate perfectly and have the magical feel-good sticker with install key. That's all I care about and that is also all the people I sell the laptops to care about.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Here is the link to the Disclic Ltd website...
w _software/
URL: http://www.discount-licensing.com/
There is also a more in-depth article on the topic here:
URL: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/11/10/outla
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
I believe the GP is referring to the $699 charged for "Linux licences" by SCO.
Quote:
"I've never heard the like, and I am stunned," said Gordon Davies, the commercial director of Microsoft reseller Compusys. "This is clearly going to take away revenue from the channel and from Microsoft," he said."
Ok I see this taking money from the reselling partners..
However Microsoft will be seeing $$$ signs.. Why well those extra licenses will end up on computers that likely have no more support. Therefore Microsoft stands to make a Significant amount of money at 200-250 per occurrence.
If I was a reseller I'd want a share of those profits. (Pun on Riaa)
If the machine still works for what the user needs it for (like creating documents, listening to music, getting online, etc), why throw it out or put on a more bloated OS that's going to slow down your system's performance considerably?
Greenbox systems are typically more than sufficient for many users. Anything more is just a waste of money and landfill space.
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"Is that why they sold Xbox at a loss?"
They sold the X-box at a loss as they would have sold very few copies at cost, as a loss leader to make back the money on games.
"Is that why they decided to give away VS2005 Express RTM for free through Nov 1996 rather than charging $50 as originally planned?"
Because they like giving freebies to gain market share. Then start charging.
"Is that why WMP10 is free?"
Designed to lock people into their media format where they make the money.
"Is that why hotmail is free?"
Even for POP access? Are their competitors not free?