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Sony Wins Battle Over Preinstalled Windows in Europe's Top Court (arstechnica.com)

Posted by msmash on from the bloatware dept.

An anonymous reader shares an Ars Technica report: The sale of a computer equipped with pre-installed software isn't an unfair commercial practice because most customers prefer to buy a laptop they can use straight away, Europe's top court has ruled in a victory for Sony. "Failure to indicate the price of each item of pre-installed software" isn't misleading, the Court of Justice of the European Union added in its ruling on Wednesday. The CJEU was asked to intervene after French citizen Vincent Deroo-Blanquart took Sony to court for failing to reimburse the cost of pre-installed software -- Windows Vista Home Premium operating system -- that he did not wish to use on a laptop. Sony refused and instead offered to cancel the sale altogether.

2 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bundling is perfectly normal by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, the thing is a bit more subtle than that.

    FIrst off, the court ruled that Sony is not obligated to sell you the computer you want the way you want it. That's it. If Sony (or anyone else) wants to put together a computer a certain way, they are free to. Sony does not have to offer you an option to have no OS, just as they don't have to give you an option to buy more RAM, or less HDD, or swap the HDD for an SSD.

    The issue was simply the consumer wanted a Sony laptop. They didn't want the OS, so could he buy said laptop without the OS? Sony refused to do so, offering instead to cancel the sale of said laptop.

    This is not like the usual case where a user buys a computer, refuses the Windows license and asks for a refund - the sale has not taken place yet.

    In short, the court simply ruled a vendor is not obligated to sell you the specific configuration you want

  2. EULA: "return the software with the entire device" by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    Where does the EULA *MICROSOFT* produces say "it" being the entire computer, most of which is not theirs?

    I don't have the Windows Vista EULA handy, but the Windows 10 EULA states:

    By accepting this agreement or using the software, you agree to all of these terms, and consent to the transmission of certain information during activation and during your use of the software as per the privacy statement described in Section 3. If you do not accept and comply with these terms, you may not use the software or its features. You may contact the device manufacturer or installer, or your retailer if you purchased the software directly, to determine its return policy and return the software or device for a refund or credit under that policy. You must comply with that policy, which might require you to return the software with the entire device on which the software is installed for a refund or credit, if any.

    Key words: "which might require you to return the software with the entire device on which the software is installed"