(OT)OEM MS Office Basic and/or OEM Office XP question:

Hypothetical:

OEM Machine A was destroyed by lightning. It was purchased with an OEM copy
of MS Office XP. Original sealed discs including key are with the machine.

Machine B: is working and was sold to a second party, but no discs or media
were included. According to its service tag/original configuration, it also
was purchased with an OEM copy of MS Office XP.

I take it that it is STILL illegal to install the copy of Office XP from
Machine A onto Machine B..... ?

I love licensing threads and unnecessary arguments. But I'm actually faced
with the possibility of this question. Obviously, I don't want the MIB from
Redmond to come here and crack my skull and throw me into jail.

Opinions? My initial opinion is that by the letter of the EULA this is still
illegal.

Thanks,

Stew

Yes, it's illegal (or at least a violation of the OEM EULA) to install
Machine A's copy of Office onto machine B.

BUT ..... it is NOT illegal to repair machine A, which, in this case,
might mean replacing .... well, everything except the sheet metal. And
there is no requirement that the machine be repaired with the exact same
parts (e.g. the motherboard, CPU and disk drive might all be different
models, might all be, ah, "newer").

In the end, if your conscience is comfortable, what matters is what
product activation and WGA will allow. And, in turn, those come down to
a phone call with you on one end and a Microsoft rep on the other end.
What you say, and the exact words you use, and your tone of voice, might
determine the outcome. So might whether the person on the other end is
having a "good" day or a "bad" day. If someone peed in her Wheaties at
the wrong time of the month, you might have a hard time. OR, Microsoft
might have a hard time ("screw this company, I'm activating everyone
today .....")

The process, you see, is totally scientific and objective, with
absolutely no case-to-case variation whatsoever.

Comment: There is a huge difference between describing something as an
"upgrade" vs. a "repair"


S.Lewis wrote:
> Hypothetical:
>
> OEM Machine A was destroyed by lightning. It was purchased with an OEM copy
> of MS Office XP. Original sealed discs including key are with the machine.
>
> Machine B: is working and was sold to a second party, but no discs or media
> were included. According to its service tag/original configuration, it also
> was purchased with an OEM copy of MS Office XP.
>
> I take it that it is STILL illegal to install the copy of Office XP from
> Machine A onto Machine B..... ?
>
> I love licensing threads and unnecessary arguments. But I'm actually faced
> with the possibility of this question. Obviously, I don't want the MIB from
> Redmond to come here and crack my skull and throw me into jail.
>
> Opinions? My initial opinion is that by the letter of the EULA this is still
> illegal.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stew
>
>
>

You undoubtedly will go straight to Hell!

"S.Lewis" <> wrote in message
news:73Kyi.59275$. ..
> Hypothetical:
>
> OEM Machine A was destroyed by lightning. It was purchased with an OEM
> copy of MS Office XP. Original sealed discs including key are with the
> machine.
>
> Machine B: is working and was sold to a second party, but no discs or
> media were included. According to its service tag/original configuration,
> it also was purchased with an OEM copy of MS Office XP.
>
> I take it that it is STILL illegal to install the copy of Office XP from
> Machine A onto Machine B..... ?
>
> I love licensing threads and unnecessary arguments. But I'm actually faced
> with the possibility of this question. Obviously, I don't want the MIB
> from Redmond to come here and crack my skull and throw me into jail.
>
> Opinions? My initial opinion is that by the letter of the EULA this is
> still illegal.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stew
>
>
>

Hi!

> You undoubtedly will go straight to Hell!

Don't you mean "Dell"? If so, he's already here! :-D

(Sorry. I have a strange sense of humor. It's not meant to offend.)

William

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:23:29 -0400, Barry Watzman
<> wrote:

>What you say, and the exact words you use, and your tone of voice, might
>determine the outcome. So might whether the person on the other end is
>having a "good" day or a "bad" day. If someone peed in her Wheaties at
>the wrong time of the month, you might have a hard time. OR, Microsoft
>might have a hard time ("screw this company, I'm activating everyone
>today .....")

Oh please, I doubt that it comes down to tone of voice and whether
someone is having a good or bad day. Now I may be totally out of line
to say that and if so I apologize but it sounds pretty hokey to me.

On Aug 21, 11:55 pm, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
> Hypothetical:
>
> OEM Machine A was destroyed by lightning. It was purchased with an OEM copy
> of MS Office XP. Original sealed discs including key are with the machine.
>
> Machine B: is working and was sold to a second party, but no discs or media
> were included. According to its service tag/original configuration, it also
> was purchased with an OEM copy of MS Office XP.
>
> I take it that it is STILL illegal to install the copy of Office XP from
> Machine A onto Machine B..... ?
>
> I love licensing threads and unnecessary arguments. But I'm actually faced
> with the possibility of this question. Obviously, I don't want the MIB from
> Redmond to come here and crack my skull and throw me into jail.
>
> Opinions? My initial opinion is that by the letter of the EULA this is still
> illegal.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stew

I'm assuming that you have two Dells, both of which came with Office
XP installed, and came with OEM Office XP disks to reinstall if
needed.
Machine A has died, but you have its Office XP disk. Machine B is
working fine but doesn't have Office installed.

If you were to compare bit-for-bit Machine A's OEM Office disk and the
one that originally came with Machine B, you'd find they were flat out
identical. Hence I really can't see the problem here: you've "found"
Machine B's missing Office CD, in effect...it's a little bit like the
old saw of "if a tree falls in a forest when there's no-one around to
hear it, does it make a sound"...

Ric

"ric" <> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> On Aug 21, 11:55 pm, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
>> Hypothetical:
>>
>> OEM Machine A was destroyed by lightning. It was purchased with an OEM
>> copy
>> of MS Office XP. Original sealed discs including key are with the
>> machine.
>>
>> Machine B: is working and was sold to a second party, but no discs or
>> media
>> were included. According to its service tag/original configuration, it
>> also
>> was purchased with an OEM copy of MS Office XP.
>>
>> I take it that it is STILL illegal to install the copy of Office XP from
>> Machine A onto Machine B..... ?
>>
>> I love licensing threads and unnecessary arguments. But I'm actually
>> faced
>> with the possibility of this question. Obviously, I don't want the MIB
>> from
>> Redmond to come here and crack my skull and throw me into jail.
>>
>> Opinions? My initial opinion is that by the letter of the EULA this is
>> still
>> illegal.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Stew
>
> I'm assuming that you have two Dells, both of which came with Office
> XP installed, and came with OEM Office XP disks to reinstall if
> needed.
> Machine A has died, but you have its Office XP disk. Machine B is
> working fine but doesn't have Office installed.
>
> If you were to compare bit-for-bit Machine A's OEM Office disk and the
> one that originally came with Machine B, you'd find they were flat out
> identical. Hence I really can't see the problem here: you've "found"
> Machine B's missing Office CD, in effect...it's a little bit like the
> old saw of "if a tree falls in a forest when there's no-one around to
> hear it, does it make a sound"...
>
> Ric
>

Ric -

It's not meant to be a flippant question at all; but given the MS EULA
legalty questions and specifically how an OEM license/COA stays with a given
system/OEM hardware configuration, it's a serious question both legally and
ethically.

The truth is that if Machine A is never in use again (not salvageable other
than a few HW components that will be scattered about after testing), then
there's *no* risk of that copy of MSOffice being validated or active on more
than one machine (Machine B). And, in fact, if there's a "crime" it would
rest with whomever has Machine B's media for MSOffice if it is installed on
a system that was never purchased with the bundle to begin with.

I genuinely wanted some of the more adamant licensing proponents to pick the
scenario apart with their most severe criticism and legal points.

I'm trying to do the right thing here.('When in doubt, don't.')

Stew

On Aug 22, 11:25 am, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
> "ric" <publicm...@infobubble.co.uk> wrote in message
>
> news: ups.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Aug 21, 11:55 pm, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
> >> Hypothetical:
>
> >> OEM Machine A was destroyed by lightning. It was purchased with an OEM
> >> copy
> >> of MS Office XP. Original sealed discs including key are with the
> >> machine.
>
> >> Machine B: is working and was sold to a second party, but no discs or
> >> media
> >> were included. According to its service tag/original configuration, it
> >> also
> >> was purchased with an OEM copy of MS Office XP.
>
> >> I take it that it is STILL illegal to install the copy of Office XP from
> >> Machine A onto Machine B..... ?
>
> >> I love licensing threads and unnecessary arguments. But I'm actually
> >> faced
> >> with the possibility of this question. Obviously, I don't want the MIB
> >> from
> >> Redmond to come here and crack my skull and throw me into jail.
>
> >> Opinions? My initial opinion is that by the letter of the EULA this is
> >> still
> >> illegal.
>
> >> Thanks,
>
> >> Stew
>
> > I'm assuming that you have two Dells, both of which came with Office
> > XP installed, and came with OEM Office XP disks to reinstall if
> > needed.
> > Machine A has died, but you have its Office XP disk. Machine B is
> > working fine but doesn't have Office installed.
>
> > If you were to compare bit-for-bit Machine A's OEM Office disk and the
> > one that originally came with Machine B, you'd find they were flat out
> > identical. Hence I really can't see the problem here: you've "found"
> > Machine B's missing Office CD, in effect...it's a little bit like the
> > old saw of "if a tree falls in a forest when there's no-one around to
> > hear it, does it make a sound"...
>
> > Ric
>
> Ric -
>
> It's not meant to be a flippant question at all; but given the MS EULA
> legalty questions and specifically how an OEM license/COA stays with a given
> system/OEM hardware configuration, it's a serious question both legally and
> ethically.
>
> The truth is that if Machine A is never in use again (not salvageable other
> than a few HW components that will be scattered about after testing), then
> there's *no* risk of that copy of MSOffice being validated or active on more
> than one machine (Machine B). And, in fact, if there's a "crime" it would
> rest with whomever has Machine B's media for MSOffice if it is installed on
> a system that was never purchased with the bundle to begin with.
>
> I genuinely wanted some of the more adamant licensing proponents to pick the
> scenario apart with their most severe criticism and legal points.
>
> I'm trying to do the right thing here.('When in doubt, don't.')
>
> Stew- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

No, I take your point. I guess to further clarify it, if you used
Machine A's install media and licenced it with Machine B's Office key
then there's no possible problem: the media you install from is
effectively the same. If you see what I mean.

I must say that *personally* I wouldn't lose sleep over moving an OEM
copy of Office from one machine to another, provided you didn't have
it installed simultaneously on two machines. This isn't permitted
officially via EULA but I *personally* think that a) I can't see the
harm as you're not pirating anything or depriving MS of revenue, and
b) MS won't know, I wouldn't worry too much. I appreciate YMMV,
though.

Personally, I'd sack it off and use Open Office for nothing if I was
that bothered about it...

It's a live interaction over the phone between two people over a subject
matter area that is more than a little "gray". [Do you agree with that?]

I rest my case.


Journey wrote:
> On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:23:29 -0400, Barry Watzman
> <> wrote:
>
>> What you say, and the exact words you use, and your tone of voice, might
>> determine the outcome. So might whether the person on the other end is
>> having a "good" day or a "bad" day. If someone peed in her Wheaties at
>> the wrong time of the month, you might have a hard time. OR, Microsoft
>> might have a hard time ("screw this company, I'm activating everyone
>> today .....")
>
> Oh please, I doubt that it comes down to tone of voice and whether
> someone is having a good or bad day. Now I may be totally out of line
> to say that and if so I apologize but it sounds pretty hokey to me.

"ric" <> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> On Aug 21, 11:55 pm, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
>> Hypothetical:
>>
>> OEM Machine A was destroyed by lightning. It was purchased with an OEM
>> copy
>> of MS Office XP. Original sealed discs including key are with the
>> machine.
>>
>> Machine B: is working and was sold to a second party, but no discs or
>> media
>> were included. According to its service tag/original configuration, it
>> also
>> was purchased with an OEM copy of MS Office XP.
>>
>> I take it that it is STILL illegal to install the copy of Office XP from
>> Machine A onto Machine B..... ?
>>
>> I love licensing threads and unnecessary arguments. But I'm actually
>> faced
>> with the possibility of this question. Obviously, I don't want the MIB
>> from
>> Redmond to come here and crack my skull and throw me into jail.
>>
>> Opinions? My initial opinion is that by the letter of the EULA this is
>> still
>> illegal.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Stew
>
> I'm assuming that you have two Dells, both of which came with Office
> XP installed, and came with OEM Office XP disks to reinstall if
> needed.
> Machine A has died, but you have its Office XP disk. Machine B is
> working fine but doesn't have Office installed.
>
> If you were to compare bit-for-bit Machine A's OEM Office disk and the
> one that originally came with Machine B, you'd find they were flat out
> identical. Hence I really can't see the problem here: you've "found"
> Machine B's missing Office CD, in effect...it's a little bit like the
> old saw of "if a tree falls in a forest when there's no-one around to
> hear it, does it make a sound"...
>
> Ric
>
For christs sake , just supply the disks from machine A with Machine B so
long as machine B has a licence then there is no way on this planet that you
can tie a particular disk made in whatever factory around the world to a
particular machine even the germans arn't that maticulous at keeping
records, so long as its got a licence it dont matter what disk you use to
install