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from the throwing-off-the-yoke-of-the-oppressor dept.
Italy's High Court has struck a blow to the practice of forcing non-free software on buyers of PCs and laptops. According to La Repubblica [Google translation], the court ruled on Thursday that a laptop buyer was entitled to receive a refund for the price of the Microsoft Windows license on his computer.
The judges sharply criticised the practice of selling PCs only together with a non-free operating system as "a commercial policy of forced distribution". The court slammed this practice as "monopolistic in tendency". It also highlighted that the practice of bundling means that end users are forced into using additional non-free applications due to compatibility and interoperability issues, whether they wanted these programs or not.
"This decision is both welcome and long overdue", said Karsten Gerloff, President of the Free Software Foundation Europe. "No vendor should be allowed to cram non-free software down the throats of users."
(Score: 2, Informative) by SirMarth01 on Saturday September 13 2014, @11:47PM
But the court's decision has nothing to do with making available alternatives to Windows. It simply ensures that you can buy a computer that has Windows preinstalled, then refuse to accept the Windows license, get a refund and install any alternative OS that you want, therefore nullifying any premium you had to pay for having Windows preinstalled.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 14 2014, @01:25AM
That is gonna get old real fast.
This meme will cut into already-razor-thin margins.
Making the right OS available from the start will quickly be recognized as the more logical, less expensive option for a vendor.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by evilviper on Sunday September 14 2014, @01:32AM
No. Retailers will just depend on consumer apathy, as they always have before. They'll still make profits off people who don't want Windows, but simply don't find the hassle worth the few dollars they could get back. They're hardly going to invest in supporting several different OSes to suit a tiny minority of people who care.
Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by deimtee on Sunday September 14 2014, @02:11AM
The translated article is a bit unclear, but states that the refund is 140 euro. That is about 180 US dollars. That is enough to overcome a fair bit of apathy.
It sounds like they are forcing a refund of the retail value of windows, not the OEM cost.
If that is the case, then the retailers are going to drop bundled windows in nothing flat, and include it as an option with a defined cost.
Anti-bundling laws would seem to imply that they would also have to sell it independently for that same price.
That is what is really going to hurt MS, retail and OEM being the same price. Either they lose big on the retail sales, or OEMs stop installing it because no-one will pay the extra 140 euro.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.