E-waste Recycler gets 15-months in Prison Thanks to Microsoft

A man called Eric Lundgren lost an appeal that means he will spend 15-months in prison and must pay a fine of $50,000. The reason he landed in prison was making discs with Microsoft software that is downloadable for free and selling them for a quarter each. The discs he made were restore discs that are given to everyone who buys a licensed version of Windows.

Microsoft pursued criminal charges against Lundgren for the distribution of the discs, something the man says he did to help people keep their PCs running longer. Microsoft charged in the suit against the man that each of the discs was worth $25 and the court accepted that claim. Lundgren had made 28,000 of the disks and shipped them to a broker in Florida to sell them to refurbishing shops for the price of 25 cents each. Users had to already own a valid version of Windows to use the disks according to reports.

The idea was to prevent the shops from having to make the disks themselves and to help users who didnt understand how to make the disk from having to replace their computers when all they needed was a restore disk. On appeal, the court said that the infringement Lundgren carried out cost Microsoft up to $700,000.

Microsoft issued a statement on the case to The Verge, “Microsoft actively supports efforts to address e-waste and has worked with responsible e-recyclers to recycle more than 11 million kilograms of e-waste since 2006. Unlike most e-recyclers, Mr. Lundgren sought out counterfeit software which he disguised as legitimate and sold to other refurbishers. This counterfeit software exposes people who purchase recycled PCs to malware and other forms of cybercrime, which puts their security at risk and ultimately hurts the market for recycled products.”