Barker Bites Back
A look at some newsy stuff and interesting bits as well as those hopefully amusing byways of technology.
Tuesday 2 December 2008, 5:45 PM
HW Trading case
We first wrote about HW Trading and its managing director, Abdalla on Friday after it emerged that Abdalla was going to Europe with a complaint that Microsoft charges at least a third more for its software in Europe than it does in the US.
Abdalla’s action was in response to Microsoft taking his company to court. In an email to ZDNet UK on Monday, Microsoft said it could clarify the situation and argued that the issue was not about grey trading.
“The case filed against Samir Abdalla and his company, HW Trading BV is not about grey trade. The case against Samir Abdalla and HW Trading BV is for the alleged source and sale of illegal, unlicensed Microsoft software, including Student Media that is licensed for use only by students under special academic agreements between Microsoft, schools and governments,” Microsoft said in its statement.
It continued, “It is very important to address this kind of illegal software distribution to level the playing field for Microsoft’s legitimate distribution partners and ensure that customers receive full value for what they pay for.”
Microsoft in responding to Samir Abdalla is taking a familiar path. Since they, presumably, feel that they have proof that Abdalla has used illegal software, in this case, they say, software that has been passed off as student, or other, cut-price software when by rights the full cost should have been paid, then the company feels it is quite correct to pursue the action.
The first part of this, may may be true, a court will decide at a later date. People who deal in illegal software should be stopped from doing it. However, as is also familiar, in answering one point, Microsoft has chosen to simply ignore the bigger picture. Why is there such a massive difference in the price of software between different countries and why should people who by chance live in a high price country be expected to cough up the money and pay their license fees without complaint?
They will, of course, in the main do this as Microsoft’s market share attests. After all, don’t we all. But sometimes one cannot help wondering why?
PreviousComments on this post
This comment has been deleted at the users request
Hmm....I always thought the difference in costs were to do with differing tax levels and levies around the globe.
I think that could well be true, One of the problems is the difficulty of trying to account for that, But, the main point remains the same: if I buy an iPod in the US for a friend, am I trading in the grey market, or just trying to get the best deal?
The best deal I would have thought. If you pay the US tax on the item then that means you can walk through the green channel here in the uk right?
Providing whatever you are bringing into the UK is not worth more than £300 (£340 from Jan 1) you certainly can.
Any more than that and you walk through the green channel at your own risk.
