Posted on 02/25/2005 10:30:57 AM PST by holymoly
Afraid Microsoft's anti-spyware will muck up your hard drive, erasing your digital photos, music collection and work files?
Don't worry, you've got a $5 rebate coming your way in this worst-case scenario--enough to buy five songs on iTunes. That is, if you read and take advantage of Microsoft's legal promise.
According to the AntiSpyware Beta end-user license agreement (EULA), Microsoft will reimburse direct damages up to $5 for problems associated with the new downloadable tool that wards off spyware, adware and any other "potentially unwanted software."
"It also applies even if Microsoft knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages," states the agreement, in all capital letters.
Most people's eyes glaze over when it comes time to read a software license agreement and simply click "yes" to authorize a new program to install. There are undoubtedly necessary tidbits of knowledge contained in the lines of legalese, such as whether one's privacy will be sacrificed in the name of annoying advertising. Still, most people skip to the end.
Proving the point that EULA's are widely ignored, PC Pitstop recently inserted a "special consideration" clause in its agreement that offered money to anyone who sent an e-mail to an address contained in the license. After 3,000 downloads and four months, one person finally took advantage of the offer and received a check in the mail for $1,000, according to the company's Web site.
Microsoft's generosity falls into a slightly different category. The company offered the $5 under its limited liability clause. "You can recover from Microsoft and its suppliers your direct damages up to U.S. $5." However, "you cannot recover any consequential damages, lost profits, special, indirect or incidental damages from Microsoft," according to the EULA.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
How did Microsoft get away with guaranteeing so much cash!!! < /sarcasm>
Not.
According to the research on Piracy in the book CHINA, INC by Ted Fishman, 90% of windows systems in china are the hacked/cracked versions of windows and office and such. You can buy a PC preloaded on the street in some places for $200 american that has XP, office, and the adobe creative suite (photoshop illustrator, and acrobat) already cracked and installed.
Is that a per instance or an aggregate amount? $5 per instance could add up.
That is the total ammount of damage per system the software is installed on.
Some of my posts are as widely read as EULAs.
I have tried the Microsoft Antispyware and I like it a lot. I have regularly purged my computer with Ad Aware and Spybot and got a clean bill of health from both. Using the Microsoft product found two Trojan spyware downloaders. I haven't found any serious problems from the software nor has the devil come to claim my soul from using Microsoft products. I think Microsoft may have a winner with this product.
If you install BETA software on a business machine, that you rely on for your livelyhood - SHAME ON YOU!!! You deserve what you get. I utilize a Mom and Pop video store and have done some work on their computer from time to time. The gal started complaining about poor performance and I cleaned a bunch of trojans and spyware and told her to stop using her business machine to surf the Web with. She continued to do it, and didn't keep doing backups like I showed her. The machine got hit and she lost everything and had to use 6-month old backups when it was reloaded. There's a lesson in there and it doesn't mean that it's Microsoft's fault if you use their BETA S/W.
That said, Microsoft has so many potential pitfalls available that everyone should take it for granted they're vulnerable and do everything possible to protect their computers/data.
Gates is just helping 'em dump their dollars.
Dollar drops on reserves concerns-(even Taiwan dumping, 39 nations out of 65 )
I doubt it's generosity.
The lawyers probably looked at the laws in all the States and recommended an offer for $5.00.
If I offer you five dollars if the pack of matches I loan you explodes and burns up your 500,000 dollar home, and then it does explode, well, I warned you about it.
"Some of my posts are as widely read as EULAs."
Hey, at least five people posted after your reply - mine are always the last one on the thread. ; > )
This isn't really a beta. It was already mature software before Microsoft bought it.
But in reality, everything Microsoft does can be considered beta until the third release, or second service pack.
At least...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.