for creating copies of windows
This actually seems fairly clean cut tbh though they really did mass produce windows discs and sold them (at 15 quid a pop!) they are arguing it's because MS doesn't provide recovery discs anymore (actually the OEMs choice not MS's btw).
I know it goes against the grain for some but I feel a need to be on MS's side this time... if they had charged for the discs only (a couple of pence maybe) I could see a defence but £15?!?

Blame OEMs as well for not giving recovery/OS discs anymore in some cases, but also blame those who buy a PC without checking if it comes with an OS recovery disc I guess.

Yeah 15 pounds is a bit too steep. Maybe they're charging for labor to create the discs?(Not saying that's a justification or not, just a possible answer.)

(When I was using XP long ago I had my PC corrupt the OS[either due to a virus trashing it or something similar] and couldn't figure out how to access that crap "recovery mode" some OEMs provide....and when I figured it out I still couldn't get XP to work so I had to buy a new copy of XP to use my PC again.)

Hah! Abandonware :)

The thing is the systems are(and were at the time) set up to ask you to insert 2 blank DVD's on first boot to create a backup of the new system so the discs weren't even essential they could have got the money selling them a spindle of blanks.

How many actually saw those messages and thought to make backups? How many make regular backups in general of their OS/HDD? I know it's their own fault but still....

MS is completely within its rights. That being said, MS has gotten cheaper and lazier over time. I remember my Win 95 discs were pretty good quality and came in a proper jewel case. My XP discs were still fair quality, but didn't come in a proper case.

Vista and later and there wasn't a disc at all included. I had to pay for my own discs if I wanted them and I'd have to pay if I wanted for a copy to be furnished. I'm still trying to find where the discs for my mother's computer went after I burned them.

Ultimately, MS is technically correct, but filled with shills and cheats and people shouldn't be giving them money if they can avoid doing so. It's the only way that they'll learn.

Had they provided them for free to customers who purchased, from them, a machine with windows where no recovery disks existed in the scope of the transaction so that their customers could use the disks for reinstall purposes using the serial they had been given upon purchase and i could easily side with them, as it is, nope, clear no-no.

I'm pretty sure that it's legal to sell them, every manufacturer I've bought a computer from since MS stopped including discs has offered discs for cash.

I'm not really sure what's so special about Comet that MS is trying to go after them.

Blame the OEM for this actually they badgered MS for this option so MS did it but it's still the OEM's choice if to include recovery discs many cheap out and only include the partition and first boot disc creation.
MS own OEM and retail editions come in almost identical boxes and the disc quality is pretty damn good... No it's really not legal it's not a backup for personal use (which is allowed by the license) and they were charging 1/4 of the cost of a real OEM edition of windows for what is essentially an illegal copy of windows. They're pretty hard to miss the ones I did for people during the time period mentioned wouldn't even let me move on till I ticked a box saying I didn't want to make a backup now and then proceeded to tell me how to do it in the future in a way I couldn't skip >.<

Some skip them though due to not having blank discs or the time to do the backup. Stupid reasons I know....just pointing it out though.

I'm pretty sure they weren't giving out keys or anything... The disc is only useful if you have a key (licence) to use with it, thus I think calling this piracy is a bit too strong. I can understand they should have known better though.

Apart from the fact that 15 GBP is a ludicrous amount for a recovery disc, the main (and unanswered) question is if they only made copies of the recovery discs or if they also providede (fake) product keys.

The latter would be completely inexcusable to me. The former not so much. Especially if we're really talking about tailor-made recovery discs, because they're usually tied to a quite specific hardware configuration. Also, "real" recovery discs have the nasty habit of wiping the PC's HDD clean in the "recovery" process.

MS didn't have to agree to it, and quite frankly they shouldn't have. I'd be surprised if it wasn't an antitrust violation right there. And yet whenever I buy a computer they offer to sell me the recovery discs. It's not like I'm buying from small fly by night systems integrators either. If it weren't legal you'd think that MS would have started enforcing their rights years ago.

Really the whole situation is bullshit and ultimately MS' fault.

It's legal to burn Windows OS's on disks and go about selling them at an arbitary price, regardless of what that price might be ? I really don't think so. I don't doubt for a minute that manufacturers will willingly, and happily, sell them for cash though. They were caught doing it and there's enough evidence of them doing it repeatedly to the extent of one and a half million quid in profits ? ;)

The OEM has the right to sell the disc thats the thing they have a contract with MS to burn and create their own discs Comet doesn't