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EU clears resales of used software, shoots down Oracle’s new-sales-only dreams

EU clears resales of used software, shoots down Oracle's firstsaleonly dreams

One advantage American technology fans can celebrate is the right to resell software. After the initial purchase, they're usually cleared to pass along any apps or games as long as the technology itself allows. Europeans haven't had that (legal) option to date, but the EU's Court of Justice has just ruled in a case against Oracle that they will going forward: no matter what the license says, those in EU countries can resell their downloaded apps as long as they don't try to keep a working copy for themselves. The new owner doesn't even have to shuffle over a local example and can go straight to the source. We can't imagine that Oracle and other companies averse to used software are jumping for joy, although copy protection and a lack of digital resale mechanisms might help them simmer down and let us treat our apps like we do our gadgets.

[Image credit: Maciej BliziƄski, Flickr]

EU clears resales of used software, shoots down Oracle's new-sales-only dreams originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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