[OT] EULA and legality

[Kay C Lan]

On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 1:40 AM, J. Landman Gay <jacque at hyperactivesw.com>wrote:

> By retaining control of both software and hardware, it "just works" -- at
> least, most of the time.
>

I think this is it in a nutshell. Although Apple has definitely used the
'underdog'  tag, from my reading of the 'Steve Jobs' book, if I had to
condense it all down to a couple of words it would be that Steve was
absolutely convinced that the best computing experience could ONLY be
achieved by controlling both hardware and software manufacture. The EULA
simply reiterates that. You'll now when Steve has finally left Apple when
that EULA changes.

And really, what is the big deal? And is it any different than any other
industry/sector?

Richmond started with referring to a book and the fact that he can do
anything he likes with it. Really? Isn't this just another case of you own
the paper, the physical object, but not the software - the story. Try
buying in a Harry Potter book then try to make money with your own book
where the word Harry is simply replaced with Gary.

Buy a car and use it to carry goats was mentioned. Really? Try buying a
brand new car, with a 200 bhp naturally aspirated engine, then on day 2 rip
out the induction system, add a whopping great Garrett turbo, re-chip the
Electronic Engine Management system so you get 400 bhp at the rear wheels
and 1 month down the track when you've blown the engine see how receptive
the Dealer is to repairing it under warranty.

Not a fair comparison. Buy a sedan, rip out the backseats, remove the
protrusion bars that separate the boot from the passenger compartment, also
the rear seatbelts and airbags so you can fit more goats in the car and
when you have an accident and are severely injured by a flying goat, see
how receptive your Insurance company is to paying your claim.

To me, this is as Richard eluded to, a simple case of honesty, and not far
removed from the Piracy thread.

A musician wants you to pay for music but it's available elsewhere for
free, which do you choose?

To determine your premium the Car insurance company wants to know if anyone
under the age of 25 will be driving your car. You tick No. When your 21 yr
old daughter has a minor dingle who do you say was driving the car?

A software vendor wants you to install it's software on one computer only,
how many do you install it on?

A software vendor limits it's family license to 5 computers. There are 6 in
your family, how many computers do you install it on?

A computer company only wants you to run it's software on it's hardware.
What do you choose?

Doesn't seem to have anything to do with fairness, logic, open source,
politics, or business, it seems to be a simple test of honesty.