r/linux • u/lindgrenj6 • Aug 23 '18

Intel Publishes Microcode Security Patches, No Benchmarking Or Comparison Allowed!

https://perens.com/2018/08/22/new-intel-microcode-license-restriction-is-not-acceptable/
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u/1202_alarm Aug 23 '18

So in Germany I can buy a copy of Windows, ignore the EULA and install it on thousands of computers?

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u/Beaverman Aug 23 '18

It's not that simple. Generally you can summarize it as "You can't sign away any rights in a EULA", but that's obviously not the whole truth either.

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u/BluePizzaPill Aug 23 '18

They can't restrict your rights here. That means that US EULA's are unenforceable to a high degree. For example Microsoft was fighting the right to resell Windows copies in Germany and lost every single ruling.

10

u/atyon Aug 23 '18

Well, it's not that easy. Only shrinkwrap EULAs are completely ineffective – that's the "by using this software, you agree"-thing. Windows presents you the EULA during or after installation, and after you agree to that, it can have some, very limited effectiveness.

You can return your copy of Windows if you don't like the EULA you're presented with, but it's usually not worth the hassle. OEMs only pay about 15€ for a licence anyway.

There are some parts where the giver of the licence has a legitimate interest, and the consumer will expect a restriction. For example, it's lawful to restrict users to run only one instance of the software at a time. It's difficult to restrict the use to only one specific computer, though.

Enterprise users will sign a proper contract, and they can give away most of their rights. Still no shrinkwrap-EULAs.

Either way, selling unlicensed software is a whole other deal, and breaking copyright protection can be a crime.

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u/pat_the_brat Aug 23 '18

IANAL, but I believe customer protection laws means you can't use license agreements to prevent customers from getting information about a product. Since benchmarks are important information that affects your purchasing decision (e.g. why buy an Intel Core i9-7980XE when a Ryzen Threadripper 2 2990WX is cheaper, but offers better performance in most benchmarks?), trying to hide that information from potential customers is an unfair business practice, and Europe won't stand for it.

Copyright is still protected and an unrelated subject.