Cease-and-desist declaration from Microsoft

The Consumer Advice Centre of Baden-Württemberg describes the cease-and-desist declaration from as a “victory for more consumer rights in the digital world”. Björn Orth at VENDOSOFT goes even further…

13 months ago, the Consumer Advice Centre of Baden-Württemberg filed a cease-and-desist claim against Microsoft. The reason for this was the unwanted download of large installation files for the Windows 10 operating system. Attorneys for Microsoft engaged in an array of prevarications, which unnecessarily lengthened the proceedings. Now – a full 13 months after the campaign ended – the company finally issued a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause.

The crass manner, in which Microsoft marketed what the new Windows 10 operating system, was met with resistance by users. Many turned to the Consumer Advice Centre, because six gigabytes worth of installation files were downloaded onto the computers, even to those who did not agree to a free upgrade. The Consumer Advice Centre went to court over a “forced download” of this kind. The lawsuit was initially dismissed over alleged irregularities of notice, however the Higher Regional Court of Munich revised this and referred the lawsuit back to the Munich district court. Microsoft took this opportunity to finally submit the required cease-and-desist declaration.

In that declaration, the company undertook to no longer download such installation files for new operating systems to the hard drives of Windows users in future. The plaintiff, the Consumer Advice Centre of Baden-Württemberg, assumes that software manufacturers will refrain from using such methods in the future. In any event, the executive board of the Consumer Advice Centre of Baden-Württemberg describes the cease-and- desist declaration from the software publisher as a “victory for more consumer rights in the digital world”.

The Managing Director of VENDOSOFT, Björn Orth, CEO agrees. For years he has been campaigning for a liberalisation of the software market – and in particular, he has been focused on the free trade of used Microsoft and Adobe licenses. Talking about the cease-and-desist declaration from Microsoft, he says, with a wink:
“Used software would not have prevented the downloading of the installation files – but it offers such a price advantage that users might have been more accepting.”

Of course the cease-and-desist declaration from Microsoft is too late in terms of the unwanted download of Windows 10: Microsoft ended the campaign in July 2016. Nevertheless, Björn Orth has good news. “If you want to convert company PCs to Windows 10, I recommend our inexpensive used software.”

VENDOSOFT sells Windows 10 used for approximately 55% less than the original price!

VENDOSOFT’s offer for Windows operating systems