Microsoft tries to put PC recycler in Jail

Innovative Engineer Sentenced to Prison for Recycling Old Computers Instead of Trashing Them

Microsoft, one of the new aristocracy of our age, like Exxon, Apple, and Amazon, doesn’t like this PC engineer practically giving away old PC’s who’s license to windows may be lost.

I thought Microsoft stopped supporting windows xp so I wonder why they care about these old pc’s.

Anyway, this guy actually will go to jail for a year and a half if his appeal fails.

Even though Lundgren has a successful computer recycling business, the thought of throwing away or destroying so many PCs was unsettling. So he hatched a plan to copy and sell to refurbishers PCs with Microsoft restore discs. However, when the company learned what he was doing, they tried to put him in prison.
Piracy is a crime and affects the bottom line profits of video game manufacturers, Hollywood films, and software companies like Microsoft. But a Microsoft restore disc is included when someone buys a computer and is available as a free download when someone can prove their product key for Windows belongs to them.

But for people who buy a second-hand computer, if the product key to the copy of Windows does not belong to them (registered with Microsoft) the computer is worthless and must be thrown away.

So this guy goes to China and gets a lot of restore disks made and lo and behold ends up being indicted.

He intended to sell them to other computer recyclers and not to the general public for $25 each. Remember, Microsoft gives the product away, but proving ownership of the operating system is difficult if not impossible to do, especially if the product’s key code is invalid or not registered to the new buyer.

Even the judge felt bad that he had to sentence him, considering he has a known record of being a ardent recycler of old PC equipment and he honestly believes in it.

I don’t know, something seems very wrong here.

Lundgren described what he believes is the motivation for his prosecution. He told reporters:
In essence, I got in the way of Microsoft’s profits, so they pushed this into federal court on false pretense,” Lundgren said. He said McGloin “testified that a free restore CD was worth the same price as a new Windows operating system with a license. … This was false and inaccurate testimony provided by Microsoft in an attempt to set a precedent that will scare away future recyclers and refurbishers from reusing computers without first paying Microsoft again for another license. … Anyone successfully extending the life cycle of computers or diverting these computers from landfills for reuse in society is essentially standing in the way of Microsoft’s profits.”

Watch where you put your old pc folks, you might end up in handcuffs!

Wow! crazy scary, so what am i going to do when they come for my windows 7 desktop! profits at all costs ffs

a reply to: Willtell

The solution appears to be reformatting the HDD to wipe all traces of anything MS and installing an open source OS like Linux which can be legally obtained for the price of a magazine or downloaded for free.

You do not own Microsoft Windows at any point of any ones. The same with most software produced in the known universe. You LEASE applications for 99 years . And the company retains the right at any time to revoke your lease

Feel better now ?

a reply to: Willtell

Intellectual property rights are a thing.

originally posted by: Pilgrum
a reply to: Willtell

The solution appears to be reformatting the HDD to wipe all traces of anything MS and installing an open source OS like Linux which can be legally obtained for the price of a magazine or downloaded for free.

I've been in IT for 17 years and am primarily a Windows user. Yes, I'm a developer (cloud developer) and even though my Linux A game is enterprise-quality, I still prefer to run Windows on almost any PC.

Except one.

Can you guess which device I don't run Windows on (besides phone)?

My laptop. On my main squeeze I run Linux Mint.

My main gaming PC, Windows.

Linux STILL sucks from a usability perapective. I hope it dies from a new, better mutli-device OS with a unified app store.

Oh wait, like Android.

When the Note 9 comes out with DEX2 I'm ALL over that.

originally posted by: Willtell

Watch where you put your old pc folks, you might end up in handcuffs!

You can use your old pc just fine.

He was making "copies" of Microsoft's copyrighted material. That's all.

Even though it's outdated, Microsoft still holds and claims the copyright and patents to all their old and discarded stuff.

Since, Microsoft is owned by the Stockholders, who buy their shares on Wall Street, it's the stock holders that Microsoft is protecting.

There should be a special law, however, that declares all "abandon-ware" and other software that Manufacturer's stop supporting, automatically become public "free ware", to be used by the public any way they see fit.

This law would protect consumers, from viscous software Manufacturer's, who deliberately discontinue support of their older software, and try to force the consumers to upgrade, especially since that often means buying new expensive hardware just to use the upgraded software, leading to a huge bill for the hapless consumer.

They gotta make dem pennies while they can, before A.I. designs the Linux Windows hybrid many have been waiting for and most never knew they needed.

soon... decade out, tops.

a reply to: Willtell

This is why the last microsoft software product I paid hundreds of dollars for was Vista.

I have and will always use pirated software. PROUDLY.

If they dont like us doing that, then they need to stop trying to control the competition and actually let a real alternative flourish.

All the big box brand PC's had MS OS with them when they shipped. But they like to give you half ass versions of Windoze install discs so when they go bad you cant use a regular disc to reinstall your OS shiznit.

All while the bigger issue here is the whole game is skewed so that little guys like him cant make much of a living building PC's for people because of the OS license issue. You see the big boxers they buy their licenses by the bajillions and get them as a cost of about nothing, whem little PC tech guy at home pretty much has to buy them like everyone else. Now when you can actually buy all new low end PC parts and build a ssystem for I dunno $200, but then the OS costs I dunno $200, well you can see how the whole game is stacked against little people having their own little thing going from home. I've actually contemplated there ought to be a PC tech association thingie where they all buy in on mass licenses, but its not my game anymore.

originally posted by: tadaman
a reply to: Willtell

This is why the last microsoft software product I paid hundreds of dollars for was Vista.

I have and will always use pirated software. PROUDLY.

If they dont like us doing that, then they need to stop trying to control the competition and actually let a real alternative flourish.

Proudly you say? What do you do for a living? My career includes mor than 20 years as a developer. Writing code isn't a pastime, it's a profession. Thankfully, there weren't many people stealing my code so it's all good.

Whatever you do for living, I hope someone takes advantage of your efforts and you don't get a paycheck.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

So MS should get as much profits as the entire global hardware etc industry behind every PC that it goes into? Or you dont get a paycheck? Is that the bottom line at this juncture?

Imagine all the people who wouldn't of used photoshop only to see how horrid it was that you paid money for it and inspired the need for GIMP? Or in fact, many of the other Open Source love we see, bitcoin / ether comes to mine...

I'm an music artist, but I work for a living so I give my tunes out for free...

At some point, even my own mass produced mp3 starts to loose value, so why wouldn't an OS or digital idea that would of been thought of as well be eventually devalued to nothing if it's based on old out dated tech?

If thats not the case, we all owe the creators of a few items we use daily an asston of money...

make your money, but at the end, don't turn your back on humanity, even SONY made everquest a 20 year MMOrpg FREE and the sourcecode as well... but not ancient OS software thats already available to download for free, if you happen to have an old machine still and just don't go online with it or use vpns...

a reply to: Tranceopticalinclined

Yep. Since the article wanted to shotgun the PC topic with the movie industry etc, my philosophy about a lot of this kind of stuff is, for all the stuff I've played etc, if I had to pay Every Single Time for Every Single Thing well then basically none of it ever would have been and I wouldnt have 'seen' it anyways. Therefore for me to get a taste, well you know what, if something is good I tell people about it, embed the forum with it, etc. But if I had to pay up front for something then I couldn't word of mouth, and they'd have never gotten anything from me anyways. So then we all lose. They would have never gotten anythign from me anyways then what difference at this point does it make if I get to look at or hear something??

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

I know I am scum.

I could make much more money if I told my customers one price, then after they got my services I told them " no Im not doing that for you anymore, but you could buy more of my newer services if you still need them."

Also if I make it my purpose to drive out competition and innovation so people are stuck with me, I would make even more money!

I might not be liked very much but who cares right?

I do buy from and donate to developers and honest companies. Microsoft? I will never stop pirating their OS. I have paid thousands of dollars at one point for business computers for MS to one day try to FORCE me to upgrade and spend more.

That wasnt part of the deal. So deals off

a reply to: tadaman

Nah, HuLu started like a putlocker service, used to be able to watch free cam movies on it in it's early days.

Napster was another to go from freemuim to paymedium

aol used its software as a bait and hook deal for the unwary

modzilla and even chrome have followed the windows mantra and spray and prey their software in hopes to garner new eyes on their wares only to spin a better ware for a price.

Only difference is, Windows did it the most scammy and spammy way possible and still will put your old granny in jail if she uses that 3.1 floppy version wrong...

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

So MS should get as much profits as the entire global hardware etc industry behind every PC that it goes into? Or you dont get a paycheck? Is that the bottom line at this juncture?

There's a big difference between hardware and software. If you own the hardware and had a Windows license to go with it, do what you want with it. If you sell used hardware, you can't just load a pirated Windows version. Instead, load any number of free Linux distributions or even Android. Or, you could use the hardware as a paper weight too. Sorry but stealing software isn't right.

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti

There's a big difference between hardware and software. If you own the hardware and had a Windows license to go with it, do what you want with it. If you sell used hardware, you can't just load a pirated Windows version. Instead, load any number of free Linux distributions or even Android. Or, you could use the hardware as a paper weight too. Sorry but stealing software isn't right.

You can "use" pirated old Microsoft software, if you have it. Microsoft doesn't actually mind that. What Microsoft minds is you "selling" pirated copies of Microsoft old software to make a profit. Microsoft will not come after you for using a pirated copy of extinct software on your hardware. They look the other way, for that sort of thing. In fact, they want people to "adopt" Microsoft Windows, so if you enter their world via a pirated copy, provided is a discontinued version of Windows, they won't "sue" you for that. What they'll do instead, is encourage you to get a legal copy of their current windows, when you're ready to upgrade.

So, if you want, get a pirated copy of Windows 95, and run it on some old hardware. No problem. Just don't try to sell that system on the market.

It's important that Microsoft doesn't forbid this, because there are people out there doing "research" into the history of computing, who require access to antiquated systems, to do their work, and since these things are no longer being sold, there's no other way often, than to create a pirated system to undertake the study.

originally posted by: tadaman
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

I know I am scum.

I could make much more money if I told my customers one price, then after they got my services I told them " no Im not doing that for you anymore, but you could buy more of my newer services if you still need them."

The analogy is kind of my like my old car. It's paid for, runs reliably but it isn't worth much. If I want something new and modern, I need to buy a new one. I can't expect the manufacturer to give me a new one .

Also if I make it my purpose to drive out competition and innovation so people are stuck with me, I would make even more money!

Yes, that's just being competitive. It doesn't mean you have put your rivals out of business but if you can't compete, you die. That's the law of the jungle.

I might not be liked very much but who cares right?

It depends what you're in business for. Do you want to earn good money or are you trying to be nice to your competition?

I do buy from and donate to developers and honest companies. Microsoft? I will never stop pirating their OS. I have paid thousands of dollars at one point for business computers for MS to one day try to FORCE me to upgrade and spend more.

That wasnt part of the deal. So deals off

Back to the car analogy, do you really expect to pay once and get free new cars forever? Odd that you feel Microsoft is dishonest. What makes them so?

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

But overcharging the entire planet for it is.