Ebay: Auction Cut OFF because of license agreement issue?

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
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I threw up some MicrosoftNT 4.0 disks I had at work up on ebay, and 1 day after having it on there. (2 People bought a few), however, the auctions were closed, and shut down. The auction: Link to auction

Was shut down after Microsoft had seen it. I have over 40 of these disks, and I made a considerable amount of money on these.

This is what it said:
Unfortunately, eBay removed your listing. All fees related to this listing have been credited to your account. We also notified members who placed bids on this item that the listing has been canceled.

The rights owner, Microsoft, notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of
this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law.

***Details on the specific eBay violation***

eBay prohibits the sale or purchase of software that violates the manufacturer's license or user agreement. Some common types of software with license agreement restrictions include:

- Academic software
Software sold at discounted prices to students, faculty members, and educational institutions.

- Beta software
Early copies of software that are distributed by software developers for evaluation and troubleshooting purposes.

- Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) software
Software that is included with the purchase of new equipment.

You need to obtain the manufacturer's consent to sell this software.

The software manufacturer or intellectual property rights owner has notified eBay that this item violates a licensing agreement. When we receive this type of notice, we remove the listing.

We encourage you to contact the manufacturer or rights owner directly if you have any questions.

For more information on the eBay Software Licensing policy, please visit:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/programs-vero-ov.html

My question is:
A. Is it possible to relist these without worrying about any copy right laws?
B. Do I HAVE to just throw these away? I know they're old CD's but since I don't pay for shipping (work does it), I had 40 dollars from TWO cd's. (I have over 40 again).. I really saw potential from these cd's..

So am I screwed, or is there another way? Im not asking to do anything drastically "illegal" but there's gotta be a loophole somewhere...
 

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
3,944
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71
Hmm, the shipping could jump then and thus disincline the bidder to -not bid period. They need WinNT 4.0, not a pc too ya know?
 

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
3,944
0
71
It says right in the user agreement/on the package about the OEM.. I can't just do that. It says somewhere in the easy to read user agreement link in the quote
 

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
3,944
0
71
Don't include the OEM jib jab? Would this allow me to put them on there without ebay taking it away? Could I just say on ebay:

WindowsNT 4.0
New
In Package

Show the image (from the back) and then just repost it on ebay?

My question is then... The package says "For Distribution with new IBM pc".. will A. it work only on IBM's? B. Does it NEED to be a new PC? C. Could I get in troble if the person I sold it too raised questions about A/B/C?
 

wazzledoozle

Golden Member
Apr 14, 2006
1,814
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There are different types of OEM licenses... you should mention that it is OEM but not mention that is the bundle-with-an-ibm type :D

Also the second picture should do, it shows that it is factory shrinkwrapped.

Er... just noticed its printed on the disc too... hmmm.
 

shoRunner

Platinum Member
Nov 8, 2004
2,629
1
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you must sell it with a qualifying piece of HW, like a hard drive or cd-rom. I don't recall all of the HW on the list, but it doesn't have to be working HW, so you should just be able to put in that it will come with a qualifying piece of HW and your listing should be ok.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
The package says "For Distribution with new IBM pc".. will A. it work only on IBM's? B. Does it NEED to be a new PC? C. Could I get in troble if the person I sold it too raised questions about A/B/C?
Sorry, you're selling unlicensed copies of NT, i.e. warez.

These are, as they clearly say, only valid licenses when shipped with an IBM PC. These are not the generic / any-PC OEM Windows licenses you would get at Newegg.

Any business buying these could report you to both eBay and MS. You could even be sued by MS
 

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
3,944
0
71
Well, youre all right..

I'll try to find some crappy piece of "hardware"..

HEY! I have 90 harddrives that I smashed with a hammer, would those work?? Or does it have to be "an IBM PC"?
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Unless the hardware has an IBM logo on it you could still be reported, barred from eBay, sued by MS.

A generic OEM license says "for sale with a new PC." These licenses were sold by MS to IBM Corp. and are, as they say, only for distribution with an IBM brand PC.

To be completely safe you'd need to sell these with a piece from the IBM computers they originally shipped with.

It stinks that no-longer used (or never-used) brand-specific Windows licenses can't be re-used with some other PC. But those are the license terms and anyone who is buying these to obtain a valid license could report you.

I don't care myself and say go for it as long as you realize the possible consequences.
 

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
3,944
0
71
I just lost my money market for the next few weeks is all. I guess I'll have to find another product I can buy cheap and make some money from .. :(

College is gunna be a bi$&ch to pay off lol
 

ucdbiendog

Platinum Member
Sep 22, 2001
2,468
0
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Originally posted by: Coldkilla
I just lost my money market for the next few weeks is all. I guess I'll have to find another product I can buy cheap and make some money from .. :(

College is gunna be a bi$&ch to pay off lol

i heard selling drugs is easy money
 

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
3,944
0
71
True. I have 1 laptop thats old sitting at work. I'll try and get it to work. Hopefully its an IBM and I say in my auction:

OLD somewhat working Laptop (Optional) comes with new sealed WindowsNT software. Buy it now: $10.00.
 

Trikat

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
3,384
0
86
EBay is pathetic when it came to me with software. I was trying to sell some DVDXCopy software and they removed my listing. Funny part is other sellers got away with it just fine.
 

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
91
just keep relisting it using only 1 day auctions until all are sold. that way the auction will be over before ebay has a chance to shut it down.