Group Complaint Against Pre-Installed Windows in Italy

01/06/2010

Those who buy a computer in most countries with Windows and do not accept the terms of licensing have to pay for the unused license(s). The procedure is complicated and inconsistent. In Italy, a group forming a collective complaint seeks to bring order to this chaos.

A change of regulations in Italy as of the first of January now enables official complaints to be filed in the form of a consistent class action. This option was previously only possible in the USA and now the Italian user protection organization ADUC will bring it into use in Italy. The first class action will be filed in Florence and will make it possible for private users who purchase computers with pre-installed Windows and do not accept the terms of licensing to complain.

The ADUC is not inexperienced in this area. After a two-year proceeding in which an official complaint against HP was dealt with, the organization successfully concluded their battle in support of users who had refused the costs for pre-installed programs (mainly for Windows XP). With the current class action, the group seeks to find a solution for all users.

( Marcel Hilzinger)

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