being middle-manned by software - Faiir Repair

Misuse is such an atomic bomb of a finding

and then there is this from Ars Technica

How a fight over Star Wars download codes could reshape copyright law

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/02/judge-slaps-down-disney-effort-to-stop-resale-of-star-wars-download-codes/

"the little-used doctrine of copyright misuse, which holds that a copyright holder loses the right to enforce a copyright if the copyright is being abused."

...

"Misuse is such an atomic bomb of a finding," Grimmelmann says.

...

"Grimmelmann told us that a finding of misuse prevents any enforcement of a copyright as long as the misuse continues."

...

"The ruling could even have implications for embedded software. Many mobile and "Internet of Things" devices tie copyrighted software to the physical device with which it was sold. The Pregerson ruling implies that device manufacturers could no longer do this, forcing a broad re-think of how device makers write software licenses."

Promoted comment by teh.d Smack-Fu Master, in training et Subscriptor

"This ruling would have implications far beyond entertainment. It would dramatically change how infrastructure like switches, routers, storage arrays, etc, are packaged. Almost anything that is purchased as an "appliance" to store data or act as a switch or perform data protection is mostly standard hardware with all the special sauce being software. But, a customer is almost always buying the appliance as a package deal with the software tied to that one piece of hardware it came with. License agreements prevent re-selling the two separately. In fact, most agreements prevent re-selling the software at all. If this ruling were upheld, it would have an enormous impact on the business models of all the big players, Cisco, Dell/EMC, IBM, HPE, you name it. Whether that is a good or bad thing is an exercise left to the reader."