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Nvidia Wants To Prohibit Consumer GPU Use In Datacenters (theregister.co.uk)
The Register reports:
Nvidia has banned the use of its GeForce and Titan gaming graphics cards in data centers -- forcing organizations to fork out for more expensive gear, like its latest Tesla V100 chips. The chip-design giant updated its GeForce and Titan software licensing in the past few days, adding a new clause that reads: "No Datacenter Deployment. The SOFTWARE is not licensed for datacenter deployment, except that blockchain processing in a datacenter is permitted."
Long-time Slashdot reader Xesdeeni has a few questions: Is this really even legal? First, because it changes use of existing hardware, already purchased, by changing software (with potentially required bug fixes) agreements retroactively. Second, because how can a customer (at least in the U.S.) be told they can't use a product in a particular place, unless it's a genuine safety or security concern (i.e. government regulation)!?
Nvidia expects that "working together with our user base on a case-by-case basis, we will be able to resolve any customer concerns," they told CNBC, adding that "those who don't download new drivers won't be held to the new terms."
Long-time Slashdot reader Xesdeeni has a few questions: Is this really even legal? First, because it changes use of existing hardware, already purchased, by changing software (with potentially required bug fixes) agreements retroactively. Second, because how can a customer (at least in the U.S.) be told they can't use a product in a particular place, unless it's a genuine safety or security concern (i.e. government regulation)!?
Nvidia expects that "working together with our user base on a case-by-case basis, we will be able to resolve any customer concerns," they told CNBC, adding that "those who don't download new drivers won't be held to the new terms."
I don't see NVIDIA going after people who install the software in a datacenter. I see them using this licensing clause to quash lawsuits from people who do violate the terms, and end up having some sort of issue running the hardware where NVIDIA could be held liable. Be it something extreme like a fire from overheating, to a chip-level problem like what Intel has recently been going through You're running this software/hardware in a datacenter, and we told you not to. Liability absolved...maybe.
History repeats itself, did you ever remember the stories about Microsoft and Xbox? Apple and the iPhone? The right to modify your own hardware device?
The consumers and the companies that produced these product - couldn't quite agree on the ownership, even though it should be blatantly clear: If you OWN the hardware you purchase, you're technically free to do what it as you wish (in a perfect world free from lobbyist that convince lawmakers to follow the way of the companies rather than the public wishes).
Now, that said - the companies in turn, has no specific responsibility to offer you free software that support certain functions for your own purposes if they don't wish to do so, you may own the hardware, but you don't have rights to demand them to do anything for you in the future with your hardware (unless promised by them).
Nor do they have any obligation to provide you or anyone with full documentation on how your hardware works.
You in turn - have the full rights to refuse their products, you simply don't buy them.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
Its not law, its a contract. And unfortunately they likely get away with it as its software.
When I originally heard this story I assumed they were going to say that the warranty on consumer cards wouldn't be honoured if used in a data center which wouldn't have been unreasonable.
Which probably contains security holes that make it unfit for use in a data center. Sticking with an old version of GPU drivers is simply not a viable option, and anybody even suggesting otherwise should be stripped naked and dragged through the streets behind a Brinks truck on national television for all to see. It is the computer security equivalent of saying, "It doesn't matter if the fuel tank in that Ford Pinto is so thin and right in front of the rear bumper."
If this is legal (I'm pretty sure it isn't), then it's way past time for some serious changes to copyright law and contract law. No sane society can afford to allow a company to make arbitrary changes the license agreement on critical device drivers that are required for hardware to function properly and that must be kept up-to-date to keep a system secure. After all, if they can change these terms of sale retroactively, what's to stop them from deciding three years from now that the Tesla V100 drivers are no longer licensed for data center use, and you're required to upgrade to the Tesla V600 if you want to keep using it in a data center? One year from now? Six months?
Even if NVIDIA manages to find a way to avoid losing every lawsuit that arises from this suicidally stupid decision, I have to wonder why in h*** any data center purchaser in his/her right should mind even CONSIDER NVIDIA hardware in the future, knowing that NVIDIA might arbitrarily change their licensing terms in a way that forces them to sell all their hardware at a loss and replace it at any time?
This really should bankrupt NVIDIA in a just world. It's that heinous. And IMO, someone should be fired for even suggesting such an appalling change to their hardware licensing retroactively.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
A group of managers surrounded by yes-men/women convinced themselves that an obviously ridiculous thing would fly, or can be even be explained away as being for customers' own benefit. Plenty of engineers said "that's retarded" on internal mailing lists. Nobody listened to them and a company lawyer told them to drop the thread. Expect some weeks of denial and PR attempts followed by inevitable caving in with "it's only a guideline". I have not seen this particular train wreck from inside, but they are all the same.
What market? There are no competitors.
AMD doesn't have anything that can run Cuda. Also, they do not support the latest opencl so it's a no go for developers as Nvidia owns too much of the market to ignore.
My room mate is a graphics developer. He told me AMD is shit because it doesn't support CUDA. His employer forces it's customers to only support Nvidia as their is no one else on the market.
AMDs days are numbered like Unix was in the Windows outslaught. Developers still wrote visual basic apps, ActiveX, and IE 6 sites and ignored everything else. Customers didn't care.
http://saveie6.com/