The other side of the case, which contains a lot of detail not mentioned here:
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2018/04/27/the-fac...
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2018/04/27/the-fac...
> Evidence submitted to the court shows that one transaction alone generated $28,000 in revenue for Mr. Lundgren and his co-defendant from the sale of 8,000 counterfeit software discs.
That's quite a bit more than 25 cents per disc.
Should Microsoft charge $25 for a disc and license to run windows on a refurbished, maybe not. But, I have a hard time believing that anyone could attempt to build a legitimate business based like the one described in this case and not expect some kind of legal repercussions.
> Sentencing guidelines for Mr. Lundgren were calculated at 37 to 46 months, according to federal sentencing rules, and the judge in this case issued a below-guidelines sentence of 15 months
I'm not sure how I feel about the prison sentence. I understand that to many people this feels like punishing someone that was trying to make the world a better place, but I can also see how this falls under the piracy / copyright infringement umbrella.
> Mr. Lundgren was even warned by a customs seizure notice that his conduct was illegal and given the opportunity to stop before he was prosecuted.
If this is true I have a hard time feeling bad for the guy. He should have consulted a lawyer at that point. At the least he was aware of the possible consequences.
Not much of a defense if you ask me
But Microsoft wants to profit an additional $25 above and beyond their original license costs for that same system
you believe that giving a person a felony conviction where by they will be denied many rights, barred from renting property, be unable to obtain many jobs, and for the rest of their lives have their economic and social opportunities limited is the proper punishment for "imitation of the official packaging"
I am honestly shocked by a callous reactions people have had to this case on HN, either people do not really understand what it means to go to a Federal prison for over year, have a felony criminal record and how that will for ever impact this persons life... forever.
Or People have a massively inflated value of "official packaging" and the protection of corporate profits/intellectual privilege .
This guy did not murder anyone, this guy did not cost anyone a job, this guy did not harm anyone, even if you are correct that he was attempting to dupe recylcers into believing it was "official packaging" what is the actual harm to the world in that?
The comment you're replying to is argiung that the defendent is guilty of deliberate fraud, which is also correct.
Neither of these affect the truth of the other.
What's the harm? It's simple. It's fraud. He led people to believe they were buying one thing when they were buying another. It's no different than slapping Chiquita labels on different bananas and then turning around and saying "what's the problem, they were good bananas" when you're caught.
It is very different, Chiquita primary business is selling banana's
Dell Business is not selling Dell Restore Discs.. It is selling the computers for which the Restore Discs are for
If you can see the difference in these things well I really do not know where to go from here.
>> But let's not only trot out that defense when we're looking at white-collar criminals who remind us of ourselves and look the other way for others.
You know nothing about my advocacy or when I do or do not "trot out that defense". I am almost universally Anti-Statism, being a Libertarian I talk about and advocate against all manner of government abuse, most of which is more massive (like police murdering people) than this.
Simply because I am also using it here does not mean I only talk about it for " white-collar criminals" nor do those other abuses negate this abuse. If that is your metric then no one should ever complain about the US Government at all since NK is worse... It is bullshit argument
> The fact remains, though, that this guy was engaged in a for-profit criminal enterprise, and his defenders do not seem to even want to acknowledge that.
I dont believe it should be considered a criminal enterprise.
I bet however you largely support the current Copyright and Patent laws, I do not, most of this persons supporters do not either. That is the disconnect I believe. People that support the concept of "intellectual Property" want to throw the book at this guy, people that generally oppose the concept of government created monopolies on ideas aka intellectual privilege do not believe this guy did anything wrong.