[Puffer Fish]

So this man was concerned about electronic waste and the effects it has on the environment and was trying to think of innovative new solutions for people to be able to reuse their computers, rather than constantly throwing them out into a landfill and buying a new one.

...

"Restore discs" are a way for computer users to be able to restore their Windows software to the computer's hard drive if it crashes or must be erased. New computers all come with a free restore disc. But computer owners often lose or throw out the discs.

A computer owner could just download the operating system for free, but doing so is a little bit more complicated, so many people just throw out their computer and buy a new one. Then the computer ends up in a landfill.

The thing is, Microsoft does not offer restore discs individually for sale. They only come with a new computer.
So, the Microsoft software is free (onto an already licensed computer) and Microsoft doesn't offer the physical restore disc for sale individually, but offers it free with every computer it sells. In this case, the restore disc simply makes it more convenient to restore the program to your computer, rather than trying to figure out how to download it.

Eric Lundgren had 28,000 discs made and shipped to a broker in Florida. Their plan was to sell the discs to computer refurbishing shops for about 25 cents each, so the refurbishers could provide the discs to used-computer buyers and wouldn't have to take the time to create the discs themselves. It would also allow the new buyer of the pre-owned computer to keep their computer going if there was a problem (since the previous owners almost always lost track of the original restore disc that came with their new computer).

So it doesn't seem like there's any big problem, right?

U.S. Customs officers seized a shipment of discs and began investigating. Law enforcement than coerced the broker in Florida, as part of a sting operation, to tell Lundgren that he wanted to buy the discs himself. The broker then sent Lundgren $3,400, thus constituting a criminal conspiracy.

Lundgren pleaded guilty but argued that the value of his discs was zero, so there was no harm to anyone. Neither Microsoft nor any computer manufacturers sell restore discs. They supply them free with new computers, and make the software available for free downloading, for those who have paid for the software and received a license – typically a sticker with a "certificate of authenticity" number on it. Lundgren said that he was trying to make the discs available again for those who needed them, and that they could only be used on licensed computers.

Representatives for Microsoft claimed a commercial value of the discs at $25, saying that was what Microsoft charged refurbishers for the discs. But these $25 discs also came with a Microsoft license, whereas Lundgren's discs did not. Lundgren's discs were intended only for computers that already had licenses.

Lundgren was sentenced to 15 months in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Lundgren later stated that he believes it's all part of Microsoft's profit model, that the company is counting on computer owners to misplace the free disc so they will be likely to just buy a new computer when the old one crashes.

He says this ruling has set a precedent for Microsoft and other software makers to pursue criminal cases against those seeking to extend the lifespans of computers.

"I am going to prison, and I've accepted it. What I'm not okay with is people not understanding why I'm going to prison. Hopefully my story can shine some light on the e-waste epidemic we have in the United States, how wasteful we are."
...

Electronics-recycling innovator is going to prison for trying to extend computers' lives
http://www.latimes.com/business/technol ... story.html



Sounds like planned obsolescence, where a manufacturer intentionally designs their product to eventually stop working so the customer will have to buy a new one.

[quetzalcoatl]

Economic crimes against powerful interests, even when they aren't really crimes, will be dealt with harshly.

[Rich]

If you've got an old computer whose life you want to extend install Linux. My number one rule, commandment if you like, for a moral life is don't buy Apple. I use Linux as my work horse operating system on both my desktops and my laptop, but I have a windows install on its own drive on each. But just because I'm not trying to eliminate Windows doesn't mean I don't try and avoid giving my help for free on windows.

Why is this idiot, allowed himself to end up in prison for helping maintain the dominance of the the Windows ecosystem.

[Patrickov]

Erm... my first impression is that the sentence is about intellectual property piracy, which, after finding the Wikipedia article, is confirmed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Lundgren

In the sense of debate, the defense of "those discs have no value" will never hold. Any product which has a use would have value, and if it had no value Lundgren would not have tried to make a profit difference out of them.

I agree that Microsoft was extremely mean, insensitive, bullying, and this case is essentially an assault on creativity (which, seriously, they often commit); but I find Lundgren's attempt to "fool" the judiciary rather laughable.

[Puffer Fish]

In the sense of debate, the defense of "those discs have no value" will never hold. Any product which has a use would have value, and if it had no value Lundgren would not have tried to make a profit difference out of them.

The discs only had value because of the program contained on them.

The company who created the program had made it available free online.

But many used computer buyers who know absolutely nothing about computers would have found it very difficult to figure out how to download the program, if their computer crashed and needed to be wiped, and needed to have the program that was already on it restored.

The computer-making company gives away the program for free, but does not sell the program stored on a disc, by itself separately. The program stored on a disc only comes with every new computer purchase.

Which makes the buying of used computers much more difficult.

[Rancid]

I'm surprised Microsoft is ok with this. Windows does not make them much money anymore anyway. They should have spoken in support of this guy and they should have bashed the US government.

[Puffer Fish]

I'm surprised Microsoft is ok with this. Windows does not make them much money anymore anyway.

It's one of the things that make it more difficult and inconvenient to be able to continue to use an old computer, or buy a used computer, and thus probably helps contribute to the number of new computers they sell.

When someone buys a new computer, they are likely to put the disc that came with it away in a drawer somewhere, and over time forget about it. When it comes time to giving up their computer, the vast majority of they time they don't think about the disc that originally came with it, many years ago. (Maybe they lost it, or it is still sitting around forgotten in a drawer somewhere at the person's house) So old computers obtained by a used computer store are almost always by themselves without the disc.

[Rich]

It may not just be about selling new Windows keys. Having a load of generally, not very tech savy people on very old systems in your eco system is a pain the neck. As I indicated old desktops and laptop can be repurposed for desktop Linux. but even here there's a limit, most of the major distros have dropped or are dropping 32 bit support. I had a friend of mine's son trying to install Linux on a surface 1, the other day. 32 bit Arm, now there's something with no value.

[Hindsite]

It's one of the things that make it more difficult and inconvenient to be able to continue to use an old computer, or buy a used computer, and thus probably helps contribute to the number of new computers they sell.

When someone buys a new computer, they are likely to put the disc that came with it away in a drawer somewhere, and over time forget about it. When it comes time to giving up their computer, the vast majority of they time they don't think about the disc that originally came with it, many years ago. (Maybe they lost it, or it is still sitting around forgotten in a drawer somewhere at the person's house) So old computers obtained by a used computer store are almost always by themselves without the disc.

The main problem with Microsoft is that they make an old windows version obsolete by refusing to support updates after a time so they can sell the new version of windows. They stopped supporting Windows XP, and Vista a few years ago and this year they stopped supporting Windows 7. My best computer is one I ordered with everything I wanted and it has Windows 7 Home on it. I have two newer less expensive computers with Windows 10 Home on one and Windows 10 Pro on the other one. However, they both suck in my opinion. I am used to the Windows 7 and don't really want to change so I bought another hard drive and cloned it so I don't need a recovery disc. However, when the parts wear out on my good computer, I will eventually have to move on. The idea sucks. so in the meantime, I turn on the Windows 10 computers once or twice a month just to download the updates.

[Politics_Observer]

@Puffer Fish

I'm not surprised the guy ended up doing some time. He should have refurbished those old computers with Linux Ubuntu operating systems instead of Windows. It's open source software and perhaps the guy should have charged for his labor for installing the Linux operating systems on the old computers.

You dont have to be a turbo nerd to use Linux. The Gnome GUI interface on the latest Ubuntu distributions is easy to use. That way none of those computers would go to waste and nobody would go to prison.

[Puffer Fish]

If this were passed into law, then what this man did would probably not have been illegal.

Article about proposals for "Right to Repair" laws, where a company would be required to make available (at a reasonable price) the parts and information for consumers to be able to repair their electronic devices.

‘Right to repair’ law may run into the changing definition of ‘ownership’ - MarketWatch
Wallace Witkowski, October 1, 2021
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/right ... 1633108731

FTC considers enshrining the right into law

The notion of a continuing contract between buyer and seller instead of the purchase of a physical good has become contentious with the rise of the right-to-repair movement. The intention is to give consumers the right to repair a product if it breaks, instead of being forced to buy a new one or pay the original manufacturer to repair it.

President Joe Biden has advocated for a consumer’s right to fix a purchased product as they see fit, and a House bill was introduced in June.

One prominent example is Apple, which reserves the right to not sell parts and tools to repair personnel who do not work at Apple’s retail stores, and voids consumers’ warranties if they try to repair their own broken iPhones or MacBooks.

[Truth To Power]

Lundgren was sentenced to 15 months in prison and a $50,000 fine.

That is evil, and proves that software IP is inherently evil. Rentiers are always eager to obtain unearned wealth by being evil.