Use Windows or else…?

Scott McCausland, who used to be an administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent server before it was shut down by the FBI, pleaded guilty in 2006 to two copyright-related charges over the uploading of “Star Wars: Episode III” to the Internet. As a result, he was sentenced to five months in jail and five months of home confinement.

McCausland has since been released from jail, but recently reported on his blog that the terms of his sentence meant he would have to install Windows if he wants to use a computer during his probation.

Source: Linux user faces dire punishment

Sounds like a funny headline, doesn’t it?

After all, Scott McCausland is a Linux user and like those who have switched from Windows to Linux, it could be against his principles to use Windows again. So is that why the writer of the article says that he is now facing “dire punishment”? /tongue-in-cheek

In any case, no matter what operating system you use, if you do something that’s illegal, you will be liable for it. In his case, he was sentenced to five months in jail because he uploaded copyrighted material. The same could happen to anyone who gets caught for it. Now what you should do is be more careful about the decisions that you make each day: Should you use pirated software? Should you be overly-zealous about advocating Linux? Or something, it need not be a big thing really. After all, small things could cause a big impact.

In this case, his actions resulted in having to comply with his probation officer’s recommended action and lose his right to choose his software.