[link|http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/10/29/011029opfoster.xml|500 employee limit on OEM copies] (Infoworld) - saw the link on Dan Gilmor's site. (His brother is apparently now in charge of the Test Center there. (Please, no comments from the peanut gallery (unless they're really funny))

Mr. Hurtz had quite a painful experience a few months back when talking to his Gateway sales representative. "We have been buying our systems from Gateway for many years and choosing to use the OEM license of Microsoft Office that comes with each system," he says. But that day Gateway informed him they "could no longer sell me OEM copies of MS Office SBE because my company [employs] more than 500 [people]. I would need to purchase MS Office either in individual copies or under one of Microsoft's licensing programs."
...
"For us -- purchasing approximately 100 machines annually -- that's over $25,000 a year in added cost," says Mr. Hurtz. "And all of this is caused by Microsoft's so-called policy, which nobody from Gateway or Microsoft could produce for me, which states that Gateway is not allowed to sell the OEM copies of MS Office to companies with more than 500 employees."
..
that would require relicensing all of his company's Microsoft software at a prohibitive expense. "I argued with my Gateway sales rep, who was sympathetic, and a Microsoft rep, who was not," says Mr. Hurtz. "Would Microsoft offer credit for existing licenses purchased or OEM copies acquired? No, was the answer, and new license programs would have to start from scratch; all previous investments would be discarded."

And on the "getting through to other people front: [link|http://www.uclick.com/client/nyt/jd/2001/10/27/index.html|Jeff Danzier's Editorial Cartoon ] (via the NYT, registration might be required to get to that URL)

Addison