The Vista EULA - more rights gone

The EULA for Vista takes away some more of your rights. [link|http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/29/microsoft_vista_eula_analysis/|Surprises inside Microsoft Vista's EULA] goes through what the EULA prohibits. Here are some highlights:

Buried deep in the back of the EULA, in the sections titled "MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME BASIC" and "MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM," are two identical clauses:

4. USE WITH VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES. You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system.

So you can't create a virtual image using Home Basic ($199) or Home Premium ($239). However, the EULA does allow you to use Vista Business ($299) or Vista Ultimate ($399). Hmmm... I wonder why? It couldn't possibly be because those editions cost more, could it?
...
It gets better, however. If you comply with Microsoft's licensing and use Ultimate within a virtualized environment, you still have to comply with section 6 of the "MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE" appendix to the Vista EULA:

6. USE WITH VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES. You may use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed device. If you do so, you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker. We advise against playing or accessing content or using applications protected by other digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other rights management services or using full volume disk drive encryption.

IANAL (I am not a lawyer), but it sure seems to me that this clause goes way beyond listening to DRM-protected Windows Audio files (and why anyone would even buy that garbage in the first place is beyond me). Section 6 also appears to block the opening and reading of documents "protected" with Microsoft's "Rights Management Services," which I covered a couple of years ago. Basically, this means that if you want to run a Windows version of Office inside Parallels or VMWare so you can create, read, and work on documents that have DRM'd, you're out of luck. Want to test Windows and DRM (those two great tastes that taste great together)? You gotta buy a new PC!
...
But clause 15 of the new Vista EULA - "REASSIGN TO ANOTHER DEVICE" - goes way beyond that.

a. Software Other than Windows Anytime Upgrade. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device."

b. Windows Anytime Upgrade Software. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time, but only if the license terms of the software you upgraded from allows reassignment.

As I read this, you go to the store and buy a copy of Vista, which you install on a PC you had in your office. A year later, another PC becomes available that's a bit more up to date, so you decide to transfer your Vista license to that machine.

You're now finished with that Vista license. Done. Game over, man. Whether you shelled out $199 for Home Basic or broke the bank with the $399 Ultimate makes no difference. You've reassigned the license twice, and that's all that Microsoft allows.

Do you think anyone is going to care? Is anyone not going to buy Vista because of this?

Post #271,571 by bluke 10/30/06 6:18:51 AM Reply	The Vista EULA - more rights gone The EULA for Vista takes away some more of your rights. [link\|http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/29/microsoft_vista_eula_analysis/\|Surprises inside Microsoft Vista's EULA] goes through what the EULA prohibits. Here are some highlights: Buried deep in the back of the EULA, in the sections titled "MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME BASIC" and "MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM," are two identical clauses: 4. USE WITH VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES. You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system. So you can't create a virtual image using Home Basic ($199) or Home Premium ($239). However, the EULA does allow you to use Vista Business ($299) or Vista Ultimate ($399). Hmmm... I wonder why? It couldn't possibly be because those editions cost more, could it? ... It gets better, however. If you comply with Microsoft's licensing and use Ultimate within a virtualized environment, you still have to comply with section 6 of the "MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE" appendix to the Vista EULA: 6. USE WITH VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES. You may use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed device. If you do so, you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker. We advise against playing or accessing content or using applications protected by other digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other rights management services or using full volume disk drive encryption. IANAL (I am not a lawyer), but it sure seems to me that this clause goes way beyond listening to DRM-protected Windows Audio files (and why anyone would even buy that garbage in the first place is beyond me). Section 6 also appears to block the opening and reading of documents "protected" with Microsoft's "Rights Management Services," which I covered a couple of years ago. Basically, this means that if you want to run a Windows version of Office inside Parallels or VMWare so you can create, read, and work on documents that have DRM'd, you're out of luck. Want to test Windows and DRM (those two great tastes that taste great together)? You gotta buy a new PC! ... But clause 15 of the new Vista EULA - "REASSIGN TO ANOTHER DEVICE" - goes way beyond that. a. Software Other than Windows Anytime Upgrade. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device." b. Windows Anytime Upgrade Software. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time, but only if the license terms of the software you upgraded from allows reassignment. As I read this, you go to the store and buy a copy of Vista, which you install on a PC you had in your office. A year later, another PC becomes available that's a bit more up to date, so you decide to transfer your Vista license to that machine. You're now finished with that Vista license. Done. Game over, man. Whether you shelled out $199 for Home Basic or broke the bank with the $399 Ultimate makes no difference. You've reassigned the license twice, and that's all that Microsoft allows. Do you think anyone is going to care? Is anyone not going to buy Vista because of this?
Post #271,573 by pwhysall 10/30/06 6:21:28 AM Reply	Not worth getting excited about. It's not actually all that different from XP. Pertinent comment from /.: [link\|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=200525&cid=16417903\|http://it.slashdot.o...0525&cid=16417903] I know it's Slashdot, so treat it with the usual suspicion, but it seems sound to me. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes! [link\|http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?pwhysall\|A better terminal emulator]
Post #271,574 by crazy 10/30/06 6:35:35 AM Reply	Disagree [link\|http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=158\|http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=158] Ed Bott compares the changes with historical usage. Seems like a pretty big change to me.
Post #271,575 by pwhysall 10/30/06 6:54:38 AM Reply	It's hard to care about Windows licencing. After all, you're going to get screwed. It's just a matter of degree. And, in the final analysis, the number of people who actually care will be statistically insignificant, because OOH SHINY I LIKE THE SHINY. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes! [link\|http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?pwhysall\|A better terminal emulator]
Post #271,587 by Andrew Grygus 10/30/06 11:53:26 AM Reply	Well, if you're getting screwed . . . . . . the matter of degree becomes significant. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #271,701 by pwhysall 10/31/06 11:36:02 AM Reply	Seriously, what percentage of Vista users will care? We all know that whatever the question is, Windows is unlikely to be the best possible answer; and yet, Windows is everywhere, like bad commercial R'n'B. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes! [link\|http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?pwhysall\|A better terminal emulator]
Post #271,703 by hnick 10/31/06 12:05:48 PM Reply	The percentage may increase M$ is cranking up their WGA program and sueing people based on it. It probably won't be a problem for most of the regulars on this board, but who knows how picky M$ will get? Consumer rights, fair use, and such are going by the wayside each and every day. As you say, it's not a real big deal just now, but it probably should be noted.
Post #271,707 by folkert 10/31/06 1:04:06 PM Reply	The harder the grasp... the more is lost. -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* Freedom is not FREE. Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars? SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0; 0 rows returned.
Post #271,757 by static 11/1/06 1:23:16 AM Reply	What was that LRPDism about frogs? Ah yes: It's Microsoft boiling the frogs. Or something like that. Wade. "Don't give up!"
Post #271,655 by Meerkat 10/30/06 10:21:05 PM Reply	Anti-virtualisation:maybe for stalling Parallels on the Mac? Two out of three people wonder where the other one is.

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