Torvalds and the Importance of Linux

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you read the applicable law you find that copyright laws do not make it a crime to copy software or music or movies for personal use unless the aggregate retail value of the copied material exceeds $1000 in any 180 period. The civil issues are quite different, but let's just consider the criminal side of things. What the law says, meaning the 1997 No Electronic Theft Act which modified the copyright statutes, is that you can pooch up to $1000 worth of software every 6 months. Now WindowsXP retail is well under $1000 and so is MS Office and I think you could probably bring the bundle in under the bag limit. You have other problems, of course, and would have to crack the registration issues, but a quick trip to Kazaa or other warez watering hole and most of that problem is solved for you by this free and open enterprise.

Civil torts are another ball of wax and you may have noticed the RIAA handing out lawsuits right and left to people who it has detected running some free store for MP3 files, but you can take your chances in that venue if you wish without being branded as a criminal or law breaker. In civil court, you are merely liable for damages and can often bargain with the plaintiff.

I have frequently thought that Microsoft is certainly savvy enough to recognize that the millions of people using Microsoft products in violation of the license terms are not necessarily going to buy the product if-when Microsoft makes it next to impossible to obtain a copy illegitimately. I think they recognize that this practice is not a huge loss of revenue to them and probably has more value as a way to keep the linux and OSS movement at bay than it costs to leave it alone. They cannot act so as to show that, since it would certainly encourage the legitimate buyers to cheat a little the next time, but they seem to go into the tank in a hurry whenever an issue arises. I have noticed that Windows XP copies appearing in various places are often the Corporate Site License editions that do not even try to call home for validation. To Microsoft it's no different than if another thousand or so users signed up to work at General Motors or similare big bucks users who buy these kinds of licenses.

If you can get MS Office for free, why waste your time learning the ideosyncracies of Open Office?