More like filling and reselling old printer cartridges.

But these examples are not good because the value for software is in the license really. Microsoft distributes the binaries of win10 for free, it is the license they make people buy. So it is rather a weak case for Microsoft.

None of your examples actually use intellectual property of McDonald’s, ram or milk products.

It’s like selling your own burgers with less calories and calling them Big Macs and selling them next door from McDonald’s store. You can’t do that according to law

I don't see your point. You can't use the disks without already possessing a license to use the disks. Without a license, the disks are useless - unless you buy a license.

It's not like he was giving people keygens and cracks. He was just giving them the disc, burned from an ISO available for free on Microsoft's website, for the price of the blank medium used - and then giving people the information they needed to use their existing license rather than purchase a new one.

His crime appears to have been limiting Microsoft's ability to get people to pay for excessive licenses.

He was taking the restore media, burning it onto discs _with official Microsoft and Dell logos on them_ and then _selling them to computer refurbishers who would then include them with PCs they were selling._ In other words, people were buying PCs with these counterfeit restore discs passed off as actual Dell/Microsoft product.

This gentleman is going to jail for making copies of something on a website. I thought Google et al won the right to cache copies of websites without a license. I browse to Google and it does this on a massive scale. Except for the labels, that appears to be exactly what he did. Larger issues in play here and I hope this is not the end of the story.

Also, a 15 month prison sentence for this fictitious price per CD? Really?

But your example also isn’t what happened. A more accurate Big Mac example would be McDonald’s is giving away Big Macs, so you go and get a free Big Mac, and then give that Big Mac to your friend. At that point McDonald’s cries that you’re giving away counterfeit Big Macs.

An even more accurate Big Mac example would be McDonald’s is giving away Big Macs in locked boxes placed at every street corner, but you need to pay for the keys to the box. So you let people know that the keys that they paid for earlier are still valid and can still be used, and you show them how. McDonald's cries foul because they just expected people to buy new keys.

How about this analogy: McDonald’s sells counterfeit Windows CDs. Microsoft’s licensing scheme has nothing to do with copyright law. McDonald’s rightfully loses in court.

The end.

Wouldn't be surprising really. If you base your society on worshiping greed, don't be surprised when it ends up being run by the greedy.