Some licensing/warranty questions about Windows Vista

[Nobody]

Ok, this is somewhat OT, but I haven't found newsgroup dedicated to Vista,
so forgive me if you can.

Vista lincesing terms have been published here:

http://download.microsoft.com/docum...lish_895f9adf-8f5a-4441-a9a9-271913fc7dab.pdf

There are 2 items (paragraphs 17, 18) there that I just can't comprehend at
all (English is not my first language):
=================================================
17. NOTICE ABOUT THE MPEG-4 VISUAL STANDARD. This software includes MPEG-4
visual decoding technology. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:
USE OF THIS PRODUCT IN ANY MANNER THAT COMPLIES WITH THE MPEG-4 VISUAL
STANDARD IS PROHIBITED, EXCEPT FOR USE DIRECTLY RELATED TO (A) DATA OR
INFORMATION (i) GENERATED BY AND OBTAINED WITHOUT CHARGE FROM A CONSUMER NOT
THEREBY ENGAGED IN A BUSINESS ENTERPRISE, AND (ii) FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY;
AND (B) OTHER USES SPECIFICALLY AND SEPARATELY LICENSED BY MPEG LA, L.L.C.

If you have questions about the MPEG-4 visual standard, please contact MPEG
LA, L.L.C., 250 Steele Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80206;
http://www.mpegla.com.

18. NOTICE ABOUT THE VC-1 VISUAL STANDARD. This software may include VC-1
visual decoding

technology. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:

THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE VC-1 PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSES FOR THE
PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE OF A CONSUMER TO (A) ENCODE VIDEO IN
COMPLIANCE WITH THE VC-1 STANDARD ("VC-1 VIDEO") OR (B) DECODE VC-1 VIDEO
THAT WAS ENCODED BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL
ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE VC-1
VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE.

If you have questions about the VC-1 visual standard, please contact MPEG
LA, L.L.C., 250 Steele Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80206;
http://www.mpegla.com.

==================================================

Can anyone explain in simpler terms what they mean? I vaguely assume 18.
means you can't use Vista to do any commercial work using VC-1 code? Surely
this can't be true! I am completely clueless about 17

Also, one year warrany is something else I am curious about. Does it mean
that if after one year my perfeclty legal copy of Vista (that only has been
activated and used on one PC) all of a sudden decided it is illegal and
stopped working I am just out of luck?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Ok, this is somewhat OT, but I haven't found newsgroup dedicated to
Vista, so forgive me if you can.

Windows Vista Newsgroups...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.mspx

Also, your newsreader will pick them up if connnected to the Microsoft
Newsgroups.

Vista lincesing terms have been published here:

http://download.microsoft.com/docum...lish_895f9adf-8f5a-4441-a9a9-271913fc7dab.pdf

There are 2 items (paragraphs 17, 18) there that I just can't
comprehend at all (English is not my first language):
=================================================
17. NOTICE ABOUT THE MPEG-4 VISUAL STANDARD. This software includes
MPEG-4 visual decoding technology. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this
notice: USE OF THIS PRODUCT IN ANY MANNER THAT COMPLIES WITH THE MPEG-4
VISUAL STANDARD IS PROHIBITED, EXCEPT FOR USE DIRECTLY RELATED TO
(A) DATA OR INFORMATION (i) GENERATED BY AND OBTAINED WITHOUT
CHARGE FROM A CONSUMER NOT THEREBY ENGAGED IN A BUSINESS
ENTERPRISE, AND (ii) FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY; AND (B) OTHER USES
SPECIFICALLY AND SEPARATELY LICENSED BY MPEG LA, L.L.C.
If you have questions about the MPEG-4 visual standard, please
contact MPEG LA, L.L.C., 250 Steele Street, Suite 300, Denver,
Colorado 80206; http://www.mpegla.com.

18. NOTICE ABOUT THE VC-1 VISUAL STANDARD. This software may
include VC-1 visual decoding

technology. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:

THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE VC-1 PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSES
FOR THE PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE OF A CONSUMER TO (A) ENCODE
VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE VC-1 STANDARD ("VC-1 VIDEO") OR (B)
DECODE VC-1 VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A
PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM A
VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE VC-1 VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS
GRANTED OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE.
If you have questions about the VC-1 visual standard, please
contact MPEG LA, L.L.C., 250 Steele Street, Suite 300, Denver,
Colorado 80206; http://www.mpegla.com.

==================================================

Can anyone explain in simpler terms what they mean? I vaguely
assume 18. means you can't use Vista to do any commercial work
using VC-1 code? Surely this can't be true! I am completely
clueless about 17
Also, one year warrany is something else I am curious about. Does
it mean that if after one year my perfeclty legal copy of Vista
(that only has been activated and used on one PC) all of a sudden
decided it is illegal and stopped working I am just out of luck?

English being your first language or not - legal-ese is usually no one but a
lawyer's native language - and they have to study it everytime they sit down
to read a new document - because every lawyer seems to have a different
version of legal-ese in their head as well.

Maybe one will hop on this here inthe newsgroups. That would be nice.

As an aside - I find it refreshing that after all the Windows XP licensing
fiascos - people are actually reading and asking questions about Vista's
licensing agreement BEFORE the fact!

The one year warranty you mention is an interesting one...

-----
The limited warranty covers the software for one year after acquired by the
first user. If you receive supplements, updates, or replacement software
during that year, they will be covered for the remainder of the warranty or
30 days, whichever is longer. If the first user transfers the software, the
remainder of the warranty will apply to the recipient.

 

[Chuck]

Sounds to me that commercial use of VC-1 requires an additional license.
This is actually not new. I suspect that the corporate versions will not
have the same limitation.
The year business gives MS an out to charge for support after the year is
up, and further releases tham from providing free fixes after the year. As a
pc user, I think the policy sucks. As a stockholder, it sounds like a good
business practice, if you don't lose to many customers as a result.
Personally, the DRMO and "copy flag" crud has soured me on any new win
versions. Corporate 2k may need to last a bit longer.

 

[Guest]

Chuck wrote:

" Personally, the DRMO and "copy flag" crud has soured me on any new win
versions. Corporate 2k may need to last a bit longer. "

Agree.

The issue with this kind of thing is not whether media files can or cannot
be copied, but whether the presence of such a 'protected' file on a HD might
'trip up' whatever backup-program is in use, preventing the backup of not
just the protected file, but that of the _entire_ HD.

This isn't a theoretical consideration either, I've seen real-world cases
where this does happen. Backup software is typically writen to handle
situations where files have 'system' attributes or whatever, but will assume
a hard-disk fault and stop if it encounters a file which appears normal but
mysterously won't open.

Sine we can assume that Vista will 'entice' users to download stuff of this
kind, the concern here is that a bored worker downloading just one such file
may block the backup of the entire company's data.