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Jamon, <BR>
<BR>
This is beautiful! Fantastic!<BR>
<BR>
Do you mind if I use this in another e-mail I am composing to Mark Hurd--I will not mention your name--unless you want me to. Based on this, I will take HP to the BBB. On top of that, I want a credit for Windows. Why should I pay for something I do not want? That money can go to a new battery or something. I'm not Bill Gates!<BR>
<BR>
I will file the report tommorow or Monday and update the list about the battle. <BR>
<BR>
Thanks!<BR>
<BR>
-Ib Khider-<BR>
<BR>
On Thu, 2009-02-19 at 16:31 -0500, Jamon Camisso wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
<BR>
<TT>Yours is a clear case of exclusive dealing and perhaps tied selling, not </TT><BR>
<TT>false advertising etc. However, I'm not sure what Canada says about it </TT><BR>
<TT>outside of the banking world e.g. </TT><BR>
<TT><A HREF="http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/consumers/rights/tiedselling/rightstiedselling-eng.asp">http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/consumers/rights/tiedselling/rightstiedselling-eng.asp</A></TT><BR>
<BR>
<TT>"However, banks in Canada are not allowed to engage in "coercive tied </TT><BR>
<TT>selling" or "forced purchases". This means that banks are not allowed to </TT><BR>
<TT>unduly pressure or coerce you into obtaining a product or service from </TT><BR>
<TT>them or from their affiliates, as a condition for obtaining another </TT><BR>
<TT>product or service from them. This practice, called coercive tied </TT><BR>
<TT>selling, is illegal in Canada."</TT><BR>
<BR>
<TT>More relevant to your purposes is the Competition Bureau:</TT><BR>
<TT><A HREF="http://www.stratdemo.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/01246.html">http://www.stratdemo.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/01246.html</A></TT><BR>
<BR>
<TT>You have to prove the following (quoting):</TT><BR>
<BR>
<TT>The exclusive dealing, tied-selling and market restriction sections of </TT><BR>
<TT>the Competition Act may apply when the following conditions are met:</TT><BR>
<BR>
<TT> * The conduct is engaged in by a major supplier or is widespread in </TT><BR>
<TT>a market. A firm with less than 35 percent market share is not generally </TT><BR>
<TT>considered to be a major supplier. However, market share is only one </TT><BR>
<TT>factor that must be considered. Others include the existence of barriers </TT><BR>
<TT>to entry that limit competition, a lack of substitute products, and lack </TT><BR>
<TT>of competition among existing suppliers.</TT><BR>
<TT> * The conduct in question constitutes a practice. Different </TT><BR>
<TT>restrictive acts considered together, as well as repeated instances of </TT><BR>
<TT>one act with one or more customers, may constitute a practice.</TT><BR>
<TT> * The restrictive practice discourages a firm's entry into, or </TT><BR>
<TT>expansion in, the market; in other words, you must show an exclusionary </TT><BR>
<TT>effect.</TT><BR>
<TT> * The practice has substantially lessened competition, or is likely </TT><BR>
<TT>to do so. This may happen when the supplier's restrictive practice </TT><BR>
<TT>prevents, for example, a rival's entry into the market, potential </TT><BR>
<TT>competition, product innovation or lower prices.</TT><BR>
<BR>
<TT>I know from experience that with Lenovo when buying a thinkpad last </TT><BR>
<TT>year, speaking to a manager and mentioning exclusive dealing and tied </TT><BR>
<TT>selling quiets them down pretty quickly. I got a $75 credit because I </TT><BR>
<TT>refused to accept the vista eula. At first Lenovo said that they </TT><BR>
<TT>wouldn't honour the license from microsoft that plainly explained that </TT><BR>
<TT>the oem is responsible for refunding a customer's money. After reading </TT><BR>
<TT>it to the manager over the phone he admitted that they don't have an </TT><BR>
<TT>actual price of windows to refer to, which is when I noted the </TT><BR>
<TT>competition bureau would probably have something to say about that.</TT><BR>
<BR>
<TT>I was also told that Linux would not allow me to use my warranty if it </TT><BR>
<TT>was installed on the thinkpad with no version of windows that their </TT><BR>
<TT>technicians could use. That despite the fact that Lenovo offered SuSE on </TT><BR>
<TT>the very Thinkpad that I purchased..</TT>
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