Racketware.info

Last modified: 06/08/2008 10:02 PM

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Local National Actions

Currently, the worldwide action against racketware takes place on a local national basis. The local national actions we are aware of are referenced below. Please contact us to get the actions in your country referenced here.

About us

Who are you?

We are a ten-year old group of French-speaking people who try to eradicate this commercial bundling technique that computer producers and vendors have been practicing for almost fifteen years.

What do we request?

We want people to be able to buy computers with optional software.

Do you mean you want vendors to additionally offer computers with no software?

No. Many people want software preinstalled. That is fine. We do not mind. We just happen to like other software than those preinstalled, so we simply do not want to pay for them when we buy a computer: we want software optionality for all computers.

What do you mean, "other software"?

Well, some of us prefer other versions of Windows(TM). And many of us use GNU/Linux instead of Windows(TM) (most flavours of GNU/Linux come with a whole lot of software, most of them free to use or modify, and free of charge).

Sounds great! But do other people also want preinstalled software to be optional?

In French, we call bundled preinstalled software "racketiciels". The English equivalent is "racketware": because bundling forces you to pay for the software even if you do not want them, it has some similarity with racket. We launched a petition against "racketiciels" in 2006, and over 29,000 people signed it. Well, that's at least 29,000 people that want software optionality too.

And how do you implement optionality?

For instance with an activation key: a big number with many digits, that you need to type on the first time you run the piece of software. If you don't pay for the software license, you don't get the key and so you can't use the software. It's as simple as that. Drawback: you then also don't get that glittering little sticker that authenticates your software license. You therefore need to decorate your computer all by yourself.

Do you request anything else?

No. Ahem, yes: we would like vendors to comply with their obligation to clearly indicate which piece of software is complete and which is just a test version, and also to mention the price for the computer and the price for each piece of software separately. If they do that, we will not necessarily have to go to court and get so much money back that the entire commercial software industry will shortly collapse.

Get your unused software money back!

Antoine did!

In September 2007, a judgment was made public, which says that Antoine won 311.85 euros, plus 650 euros for various expenses. But initially, he had paid only 599 euros for the computer. So on the whole, he made money when buying his computer! (Well, actually, he also spent a lot of time (more than one year) to get this money back).

The entire judgment is here: PDF (Proximity Court in Puteaux, France).

Why did Antoine win?

Because he had been forced to acquire Microsoft(TM) and other software licenses while he only wanted to purchase the computer itself, and then use other software than what was preinstalled. Forcing people to buy something else with what they really want to buy is called bundling. And it is prohibited in France (and in many other countries too, perhaps in yours).

Why was he reimbursed the Windows(TM) license?

He was reimbursed 135.20 euros for the Windows(TM) license because the possibility of being reimbursed was mentioned in the EULA (End User License Agreement).

What is the EULA?

The EULA is that lengthy text that you see on your screen on the first time you launch your computer or your software. You know: the one that you usually just skip and swiftly press "Next". Well, this text is in fact a contract between you and the software editor: some of these contracts are very nice to you and some are not, you should rather read them once in a while.

Why was he reimbursed the licenses for other software than Windows(TM)?

He did not intend to use them either (actually, they run only with Windows(TM) installed), so he requested reimbursement for them too.

Why was Antoine reimbursed so much for the other software?

He was reimbursed so much (176.65 euros) because the nature of the software was ambiguous: some pieces were in fact only test versions, but they were not presented as such explicitly. So the judge interpreted this issue in the way that was most favourable to the consumer.