AlbertPacino
Skilled
The story in a nutshell:
College student David Zamos bought educational copies of Microsoft Windows and Office XP Pro for $60 each. After realizing he'd have to wipe his computer to install them, he tried to return them. The college wouldn't take them. Microsoft wouldn't take them. So, Zamos auctioned them on eBay, and that's when Microsoft sued him for thousands of dollars in damages.
Cleveland Scene has a rather comprehensive take on the story:
it looked as if Microsoft lawyers were so used to defendants caving, they hadn't even bothered to craft a suit that represented the circumstances of Zamos's case.
So Zamos spent his Christmas vacation assembling a 21-page counterclaim, which he filed January 3.
The suit spiraled into a dizzying 37 filings. Every time Microsoft filed a motion to dismiss his claims, Zamos would file more the very next day. Not only did he force Microsoft to defend its accusations against him, but the company was now forced to defend its own practices as well.
After two months of back-and-forth filings, the judge ordered both sides to stop submitting any more paperwork.
Finally, Zamos gave Microsoft the migraine it hadn't expected. He requested a trial by jury, knowing that the company wouldn't want to spend tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills just to snuff one kid in Ohio. He was right. The lawyers said they'd drop their suit -- if Zamos dropped his countersuit.
But that wasn't good enough for Zamos, who'd wasted hours of his time and $40 in Kinko's copies. He didn't want billions of dollars or a new Ford Mustang. He wanted an apology and reimbursement for his copies.
Zamos has now settled the case, after rejecting MS's first offer. While he's under an NDA preventing him from disclosing the terms,
"I feel we have reached a fair resolution,'' Zamos said Monday. "I do stand by everything I said previously. The settlement doesn't change that, or my feelings, which I obviously can't talk about. All I can say is I'm happy with it.''
So remember, if you feel you're being unfairly bullied by a computer corporation, the story isn't necessarily over. Unless you uploaded pre-release versions of software to a Bittorrent site after signing a non-disclosure agreement. But that would be just plain nuts, wouldn't it?
Source
College student David Zamos bought educational copies of Microsoft Windows and Office XP Pro for $60 each. After realizing he'd have to wipe his computer to install them, he tried to return them. The college wouldn't take them. Microsoft wouldn't take them. So, Zamos auctioned them on eBay, and that's when Microsoft sued him for thousands of dollars in damages.
Cleveland Scene has a rather comprehensive take on the story:
it looked as if Microsoft lawyers were so used to defendants caving, they hadn't even bothered to craft a suit that represented the circumstances of Zamos's case.
So Zamos spent his Christmas vacation assembling a 21-page counterclaim, which he filed January 3.
The suit spiraled into a dizzying 37 filings. Every time Microsoft filed a motion to dismiss his claims, Zamos would file more the very next day. Not only did he force Microsoft to defend its accusations against him, but the company was now forced to defend its own practices as well.
After two months of back-and-forth filings, the judge ordered both sides to stop submitting any more paperwork.
Finally, Zamos gave Microsoft the migraine it hadn't expected. He requested a trial by jury, knowing that the company wouldn't want to spend tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills just to snuff one kid in Ohio. He was right. The lawyers said they'd drop their suit -- if Zamos dropped his countersuit.
But that wasn't good enough for Zamos, who'd wasted hours of his time and $40 in Kinko's copies. He didn't want billions of dollars or a new Ford Mustang. He wanted an apology and reimbursement for his copies.
Zamos has now settled the case, after rejecting MS's first offer. While he's under an NDA preventing him from disclosing the terms,
"I feel we have reached a fair resolution,'' Zamos said Monday. "I do stand by everything I said previously. The settlement doesn't change that, or my feelings, which I obviously can't talk about. All I can say is I'm happy with it.''
So remember, if you feel you're being unfairly bullied by a computer corporation, the story isn't necessarily over. Unless you uploaded pre-release versions of software to a Bittorrent site after signing a non-disclosure agreement. But that would be just plain nuts, wouldn't it?
Source
