David Nicol wrote:
http://cr.yp.to/softwarelaw.html
which says, once you legally obtain software, you may modify it, if you have the time and inclination.
The problem is that Microsoft doesn't sell copies of software, they sell licenses. If you carefully read Microsoft's recent EULA, as with many others, you should note that the license does not grant you ownership of the software. Microsoft has made much more of a shift in this direction recently. For example, my employer purchased a large number of licenses from Microsoft recently, and we waited for something (anything!) to come in the mail. After about a month, we started making calls because we hadn't received anything. We were informed that our purchase wouldn't result in us receiving anything... our invoice served as proof of purchase for the licenses. In my mind, this basically meant we spent thousands of dollars on an *invoice*!
Under Microsoft's logic, the shrink-wrapped CD you have still belongs to Microsoft. Since you do not own it, most of the rights granted under fair use are not available to you. I do not agree with this!
However, this does present us with a couple of loopholes.
First: The whole "invoice=license" concept means that in order to use the license, you have to purchase a "media kit". The media kit is *not* licensed, and therefore by purchasing it you legitimately own a copy of the software - fair use applies.
Second: Certain fair use rights don't require you to own the copy in the first place. For example, academic fair use permits copying for academic purposes, and this right is often exercised in libraries where the person does not own the copy.
~Bradley