E-waste recycler must serve 15-month sentence for selling discs with free Microsoft software

Eric Lundgren, an e-waste recycler and inventor, will have to serve a 15-month prison sentence for selling Microsoft restore disks. Lundgren received his sentence months ago, but a federal appeals court confirmed it earlier this month. He’ll also have to pay a $50,000 fine.

Although restore disks are given to everyone who buys a computer with a licensed version of Windows (and can be downloaded for free), Microsoft decided to press criminal charges against Lundgren for distributing the disks, which he did to help people keep their computers running longer. Microsoft argued that this free-to-download software was worth $25 per disk, which the court accepted.

Lundgren had 28,000 disks made and shipped to a broker in Florida in an effort...

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