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Jim / all,

Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't get what the problem is here.

Microsoft creates a product, just like hundreds of thousands of other companies. Since they own this product, they have the -absolute right- to decide what customers of their product must pay for that product. They also have the -absolute right- to restrict usage of their product to those who pay for the privilege of using the product.

If a potential customer doesn't like the terms or the price or the company or WHATEVER, they can always buy a competing product from someone else. Simple as that. Don't like SQL Server and their per-seat licensing? Oracle will be happy to help you (well, sort of -g-). Office 2002's new registration too much for you? Corel will be happy to sell you their WordPerfect suite, or maybe you can use StarOffice. Don't like something about VFP 7's new requirements? There's always Probl -- er,PowerBuilder (shudder)...

Anybody remember when dBASE III from Ashton-Tate first came out? The program disk was copy-protected with a package called Prolock. You had to insert the *original* program disk (5 1/4" 360K) or the software refused to boot. Copying the original did no good -- the original had a "laser hole" in an unused sector of the disk that the Prolock software looked for, and without the hole, it considered the disk a copy and kicked you out. Yeah, some hacker defeated it in about a week...but that's not the issue.

Here's the issue: the existence of the inconvenience didn't seem to stop many people (and large companies) from buying the software. Why? They were willing to put up with the inconvenience because they *wanted the product*. It did something they NEEDED.

Another example: I don't particularly like to have strangers in my home. But I want to refinance my home, and to do that, the mortgage company requires a home inspection. Now, I have a choice: I can either (A) choose *not to buy the product*, thereby keeping my home financed the way it is, and maybe try to find someone else that doesn't require a home inspection; or (B) put up with the inconvenience because I *want the product* and the benefits that come with it.

And, to those who have said "if I buy a box without Windows on it, Microsoft assumes I'm a pirate", try this sometime: go down to a Fry's Electronics or one of your local "no name" clone builder shops, buy the necessary parts for a new machine, and BUILD THE FOOL THING YOURSELF. It'll only take you a few hours.

I guarantee you that if you do that, no one will ask you if you have a license for an operating system. No one will write your name down on a list because you didn't buy XP or Win2K with that sixty-gig hard drive. No one will knock on your door and ask to see your license agreements.

Why? Because they don't care. The only ones that care are the major system manufacturers, who are forced by *THEIR* licensing agreements to report back to Redmond on EVERY SYSTEM THEY SELL. That's in *THEIR* contract with Microsoft. If you don't -want- to deal with it, YOU DON'T HAVE TO.

You also don't have to buy their product(s). Nobody's forcing you. However, if you want the *benefits* of someone else's work, you should be willing to put up with the inconveniences of using their product.

The one who pays the piper calls the tune.

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