I think the difference is that in the Windows case the "person in question never had a license" (or well enough valid licenses).
On the other hand in this case there was a license given out (to every one) but it's terms where breached. Licenses are contracts so breaches ending up on contract curt isn't absurd. The only reason it doesn't happen in the US is the automatic Termination of the license/contract if it's breached. But I guess this is where the court decided that a automatic full termination in the specific way combined with a lawsuit based on the after effects of the termination isn't valid/doable/...
If the person copied it from a legitimate version of windows that they originally bought, couldn't one then argue that they did have a license that they then violated?
I guess the point I am making is that I don't think that line tracks.
> couldn't one then argue that they did have a license that they then violated?
It's a thin line, but I would say no as they only had a license for a single thing, while GPL is a license for any amount of usage. What was violated was the context of usage, not that illigal copies where made (I mean copies => copyright ;=) ).
But I had similar thoughts, it's a really thin line.
On the other hand in this case there was a license given out (to every one) but it's terms where breached. Licenses are contracts so breaches ending up on contract curt isn't absurd. The only reason it doesn't happen in the US is the automatic Termination of the license/contract if it's breached. But I guess this is where the court decided that a automatic full termination in the specific way combined with a lawsuit based on the after effects of the termination isn't valid/doable/...