Carl, it would be interesting to find out why MS is not enforcing manufacturers providing a clean-copy installation DVD with new computer purchase. They did so when they had some leverage in the Vista>Win7 upgrade kit, but users are otherwise saddled with the factory preinstalled bloatware which hinders Win7 performance and therefore affects MS image.
The OEM agreements include either a DVD or a recovery partition as a requirement, and it depends on the OEM as to which they choose (some do both, but a recovery partition is a cost savings if you think about the cost in shipping media with each machine). The OEM has the choice, ultimately, and both meet the requirements set to the OEMs.
We help thousands of users here clean reinstall bloated factory OEM to get the native feather-light, instantaneous Win7 performance which makes MS shine. But users need to find a clean-copy of the Installation DVD to do so since the manufacturers enforce sponsors' bloatware now to the extent they won't support clean reinstalls.
I understand that, but those are the "rules", so to speak. If you purchase from an OEM vendor that doesn't provide clean media (Dell is really good about this, and has been for years, but a lot of other OEMs are not), then you either have to find a way to get the WIM from the recovery partition if possible, or you build from the recovery, clean it, and sysprep/reimage it. Again, I'm not saying it's ideal for folks who do home repair work, but you are most certainly not in the minds of the folks writing the rules (and really have never been). If you want that to change, you're gonna have to be more vocal and visible to Microsoft.
It is what it is, and has been for over a decade. Copyright laws always enter a gray area within the computer world. You are trying to make it a black and white issue....and it is far from it.
So again, I'll just reiterate what MS's stance has been since they switched to an activation method. The license is what makes you legit...not the media.
Again, I'd like to see some sort of proof of this. Because there's always the EULA for Windows 7 which specifically states "You may not rent, lease or lend the software", which is very specific in what you can and can't do with the software. Again, remember you purchase the license to use it (and you agree to it in the EULA), you don't actually own any of it. I understand folks have always used sneakernet to move, share, and install licensed/copyrighted software, but it's *always* been illegal (regardless of whether it also has key activation technology or not). Just because some may see it as a gray area, doesn't mean it is. The law is pretty clear on this - again, I'm not saying don't do it (I'm not the software police, and never want to be), but simply stating it's legal doesn't make it so, ever. Well, unless you make the laws, of course

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