[Ghostavo]

U.S. Court: Software is Owned, Not Licensed

Autodesk said that its products are licensed, not owned. A recent ruling says otherwise.

Most software publishers believe that their products are licensed, not owned. Most consumers disagree, saying that once they shell out the ridiculous gobs of money for said products, it's theirs for keeps no matter what publishers claim. This mentality especially holds true for Windows, with consumers purchasing one copy and installing it on multiple PCs. But as most consumers already know, Microsoft squashed those hopes and dreams with the release of Genuine Advantage, making it impossible for multiple installations without applying a WGA crack.

But there may now be some hope for consumers. In its battle to prevent the second-hand sale of its software, Autodesk has discovered that the "products are licensed" theory just doesn't jive with the government. According to Out-Law, the US District Court for the Western District of Washington is backing eBay retailer Timothy Vernor who was selling legitimate copies of Autodesk software in his eBay store.

Originally, Autodesk said Vernor didn't have the right to sell the software, claiming copyright infringement because the company only sells licenses. The court disagreed, and said that Vernor had every right to sell the software in his eBay store. The court based its decision on the previous "Wise" case, a ruling that said an actress had ownership over a Hollywood film because the rights were transferred to her name via a previous agreement.

With that said, the court made a groundbreaking decision that may effect every software publisher from here on out. "The Autodesk License is a hodgepodge of terms that, standing alone, support both a transfer of ownership and a mere license," the ruling dictated. However, the court eventually concluded that the previous Wise case "leads to the conclusion that the transfer of AutoCAD copies via the License is a transfer of ownership."

So what do you people make of this?

[jr2]

[butter_pat_head]

About frakking time!  I'm non too bothered about the ownership/licence thing but I can't help but feel angry whenever I hear about some company trying to stop second-hand sales.  If I'm non too mistaken there was a big legal uproar about second hand videogame sales in Japan some years ago...

[BloodEagle]

Hallelujah!

Now to wait and see if a higher court holds fast.

[Topgun]

Victory!

[Locutus of Borg]

I wonder what EA will do now.

[Topgun]

I wonder what EA will do now.

starforce 4

[Nuke]

ive always hated the idea of software licencing. to me, i just assume most eulas say we can screw you over any way we see fit. i can understand one copy one user, or one copy one computer. but when they start throwing in ridiculous and arbitrary requirements, such as requiring an internet connection for single player games, or requiring that you keep the disk in your drive (flipping disks has always annoyed me). i can pirate software and avoid these software annoyances, and by extensions the pirates are offering better products than the retail version. essentially the cripple their software to protect it. why protect crap? its just anti-consumerism. weve gone from a customer is always right attitude to a customer is cattle attitude, and no one seems to give a ****.

[Thaeris]

I for one advocate raging against the machine. 

[Colonol Dekker]

The quote should say affect not effect. . . .
 
 

 
 
I'm happy with the subject content though.
 
At last I can buy a copy of Flash CS4. Cheap.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

This just means they will go away from selling the software and everything will be download only or played from a central server like on demand movies.  Since you will never own a physical copy this will become irrelevant.  They will probably even take it a step farther and you will have to license it for a period and it will auto-erase from your machine like a PPV movie does from a DVR.  

[Colonol Dekker]

Well i'm just going to hoard current software. . . Screw cloud format software. Screw it in the ear.

[NGTM-1R]

This just means they will go away from selling the software and everything will be download only or played from a central server like on demand movies.  Since you will never own a physical copy this will become irrelevant.  They will probably even take it a step farther and you will have to license it for a period and it will auto-erase from your machine like a PPV movie does from a DVR.  

At which point the pirates step in and anally violate the whole industry and it crashes and burns. And rightfully so, because that's a completely predictable consequence.

Come now, they're not actually stupid. Just greedy.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

How many people are going to take their equipment apart and replace chips required to run the content?  This is what it will come down to.  Again I will compare it to a DVR.  It's nothing but a Linux based machine with proprietary technology that does what it is told to by the company that you subscribe to who have to.  For instance DirecTV already auto erases downloads and gives you no way to transfer them to anywhere except maybe a DVD player but that is limited to only 640x480 res.  HD can't be backed up.  How long before this type of system becomes a requirement for PC hardware as well?  The average end user is just going to by it and go with the flow just like with cell phones and MP3 players.  Sure there will still be hackers making the stuff but once it becomes hardware that needs hacked it becomes a whole new ballgame. 

Not saying I like any of it.  On the contrary I hate the whole system and think you out to be able to transfer any software/music/video to any device that will support it freely and not making software that can run on all consoles and PCs should be illegal. 

[Colonol Dekker]

The main reason I object to iPhone

[carbine7]

Hallelujah!

Now to wait and see if a higher court holds fast.

Yeah, you can bet this is going to go to appeal. Supreme Court, watch out!
But in the meantime 

[Nuke]

like i bought red faction guerrilla like 2 days ago and was deeply dispapointed that it required an internet connection to save your game. this is the second game ive bought that had some bat**** insane activation schema. i dont see why developers of all people would cripple their games and other software on purpose with arbitrary system requirements that are such only to protect the software. this whole games for window crap really has me pissed off to no end. if theyre gonna keep doing this i can change my policy about not pirating games.

[SpardaSon21]

Not so Nuke.  You only need an online G4WL account if you want achievements.  I pirated both RF:G and RE5 and I was able to save on both with an offline G4WL account.

[Topgun]

Maybe because you pirated them?

[SpardaSon21]

Don't think so.  Not sure though.

EDIT: The crack was probably for the inevitable disk check, not anything to do with G4WL.  Nuke, have you tried making an offline G4WL account and trying to save that way?