Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!ut-sally!husc6!bloom-beacon!oberon!poisson.usc.edu!mlinar From: mlinar@poisson.usc.edu (Mitch Mlinar) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Converting MicroSoft C to Turbo C Message-ID: <3284@oberon.USC.EDU> Date: Thu, 9-Jul-87 21:06:30 EDT Article-I.D.: oberon.3284 Posted: Thu Jul 9 21:06:30 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 12-Jul-87 09:09:28 EDT References: <381@aucs.UUCP> <875@kodak.UUCP> <1206@ihlpm.ATT.COM> <1060@killer.UUCP> <305@ashtate.UUCP> Sender: nobody@oberon.USC.EDU Reply-To: mlinar@poisson.usc.edu.UUCP (Mitch Mlinar) Distribution: world Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles Lines: 31 In article <305@ashtate.UUCP> cy@ashtate.UUCP (Cy Shuster) writes: > >Just a reminder: most software is not *sold* to you, but *licensed* for >your use only. The MS License Agreement reads: "As the LICENSEE, you own >the magnetic or other media on which the SOFTWARE is originally or subse- >quently recorded or fixed, but Microsoft retains title and ownership of the >SOFTWARE recorded on the original disk and all subsequent copies... In no >event may you transfer, assign, rent, lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of >the SOFTWARE..." Cy, you are either badly mis-informed or have bad eyesight. Thoroughly read the Microsoft agreement and you will see there is nothing that prevents you from selling it, erasing it, throwing it out, etc. There is MUCH judicial precedence that if you purchase an item, you can do what you wish with it (within other laws, of course). Check with your Ashton-Tate lawyer, and have her/him check two separate cases of xxxx vs Ford (regarding a Pinto xxxx owned) and yyyy vs TI (HP?) - both from 15 years or more ago - if s/he is THAT rusty. (Sorry I can't give you case #'s, I am not a lawyer by profession, just have and continue to do a LOT of computer work with them.) I have read Ashton-Tate's old agreement - it does not claim this either. It is well known (among lawyers who are computer oriented anyway), that most of the license agreements would crumble under serious judicial scrutiny. I have examples where computer company 'x' attempted to block 'y' from selling product 'z' (originally developed by 'x') for some reason or another, and failed. (I was involved in several of them as a consultant.) I would be happy to put you in touch with my lawyer to set you straight :-) :-) -Mitch