French Linux Users: Don't Pirate Microsoft

[ral]

    "The French have somehow picked up a reputation as haters of big American business. It's not hard to see how that came about, when you consider that their biggest folk hero of recent years, the farmer José Bové, was catapulted to fame almost overnight for his part in the 1999 destruction of a new McDonald's fast-food restaurant in a rural corner of southern France.

 

    "So it's doubly strange to hear of the latest initiative by the French Association of Linux Users (AFUL): The group wants the government to crack down on piracy of software products from companies such as Microsoft, it announced Tuesday. It also wants stores to display separately the price of software packages such as Microsoft Office when they are bundled with new computers, so that consumers are aware of their true cost..."

 

Article

[kmc77]

WHAT... he blew up a McDonalds?

 

Oh yea the rest of the article is interesting also . :P

[GodFlesh]

He dismantled a McDonald.

 

Et c'est vraiment rigolo !

[kmc77]

France has strict rules governing the display of prices in stores, which go so far as to spell out that when a price is displayed for a six-pack of beer, the price of each element of the bundle -- each can -- must also be displayed. So far, the French Directorate General of Competition has not indicated whether this rule also applies the elements of a software and hardware bundle.

 

You're right, that is kinda funny.

 

Just out of curiosity. How far do they go with this? I mean Is it only individually wrapped items, or does a pack of gum have a "per piece" price tag also. (I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I'm actually curious)

[Gowator]

If you buy a 6 pack it must indicate price per litre thus allowing the consumer to make a comparison between different brands etc. even if they are different sizes.

 

For SW ... I guess the same idea.

The rule is meant to make it transparent thus stopping consumers being deliberatly misled. So if a price is meant to include different elements like a media player/browser it should be indicated to allow a consumer to decide what they want to pay for.

[Leo]

But presumably you don't get the option to buy each piece separately, your choice is to buy the bundle or not buy the bundle (you just get to know how much you are paying for the parts you don't want/need)

[Gowator]

Yep,

But say your choosing a 6 pack (good analogy) then you can lok at different sizes of cans/bottles etc. You can see how much cheaper a 6 pack is over a single can etc.

even if that single can is a different brand. ...

 

So I guess even though its a bundle you get to know how its made up.

[Qchem]

I thought that when buying a six-pack etc. you could actually break one off and buy in seperately - loads of people seemed to be doing that in the huge supermarket in La Defense when I was there.

[Gowator]

LOL

Yep thats the flipside to combined consumer power and ignorance.

 

People see the per litre price and see its cheaper for a mutlipack ... so they figure they get the same price for the single can as buying 6.

 

I guess the supermarkets just programmed the bar code ....to charge the same as a single can.

[GodFlesh]

For the six pack example, you do have the right to only buy one bottle if you want !

I do this for milk or water bottles for example.

 

AFUL wants to be able to do the same thing with computer hard&soft.

[zero0w]

We should tell the pirates what happened to Ernie Ball:

 

http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html

 

Anyone saying "nail your boss"?

 

[alexpank]

LOL

Yep thats the flipside to combined consumer power and ignorance.

 

People see the per litre price and see its cheaper for a mutlipack ... so they figure they get the same price for the single can as buying 6.

 

I guess the supermarkets just programmed the bar code ....to charge the same as a single can.

 

I knew my experiences working in a supermarket would (kind of) come in useful!

 

What you often find with multipacks where you can't get the individual item is that the barcodes on the individual items won't be ranged in, or they don't have barcodes at all, and there is a (different) barcode on the multipack. If you can get them individually or in a multipack, then they usually just have a barcode for the multipack and another one for the individual items.

 

From memory, ones like 6-packs of beer will often have barcodes on the cans for individual ones, and there'll be a sheet with barcodes for the 6-pack at the register... not that i know much about buying beer... :unsure:

[roland]

Just out of curiosity.  How far do they go with this?  I mean Is it only individually wrapped items, or does a pack of gum have a "per piece" price tag also. (I'm not trying to be sarcastic.  I'm actually curious)

for liquid, the price in liter must be indicated. For solids (like gum), the price in kilogram must be indicated ... well for gum I don't know :D

Edited May 13, 2004 by roland