If you’ve ever bought a PC or laptop from a retailer, it most likely came with Windows pre-installed. This pre-installation of Windows isn’t free, however, and the manufacturer and retailer would incorporate it into the end-price of the computer.
But what if you don’t want to use Windows? Should you still have to pay the Microsoft tax? This was exactly the court case put forward to the Italian Supreme Court by Marco Ciurcina and co.
Originally filed in 2005, an Italian man named Marco Pieraccioli felt that he shouldn’t have to pay an additional fee for the OS as he didn’t want it. As a result, Marco Pieraccioli believed he was entitled to a refund for the Windows license, and the case grew from there.
The larger element of the Italian Supreme Court was to do with the user license agreement: if someone does not agree to the conditions set out in the license agreement on a pre-installed OS, they have the right to return the OS license for a refund.
Republished with permission from Neowin. Read full article.
Original gavel image via Brian Turner / Flickr
