Microsoft could face court over 'misleading' XP terms

The claim comes from legal and trading experts, following news that users of the retail version of XP will be required to contact Microsoft when first installing the OS, and on subsequent installations.

This is designed as an anti-piracy feature, as it will limit the number of times the software can be installed on different hardware.

But Microsoft is refusing to tell customers what that cut off point is, which is where the contention lies.

Duncan Reid, product services group manager at Microsoft, defended the company's decision, and told silicon.com: "We are not being explicit on details because we don't want to make life easy for unscrupulous hackers."

He added that Microsoft is not anticipating any problems with the process because the restrictions apply to a very small percentage of its customers.

However, legal experts claim that not disclosing this information at point of purchase could infringe customers' rights.

Ben Goodger, partner with law firm Willoughby Partners, warned that disgruntled XP customers could have strong cases claiming they were misled on terms of use.

He said: "Microsoft should state all details. The fact that no upper limit [on the number of re-installations] has been released is not legally acceptable in my opinion."

John Armstrong, a lawyer with CMS Cameron Mckenna, also warned that customers could sue over unclear terms of use.

He said: "Selling conditions have to be fair and reasonable. But if they're not brought to the customer's attention at the selling point, a court will probably side with the customer."

However, he added that because the reinstallation restrictions will only affect retail customers - mainly home and small business users - any resulting lawsuits are likely to be low key.

Richard Webb, ecommerce standards officer with the Trading Standards Institute, agreed that while Microsoft was not breaking any laws by excluding information, a court could interpret the action as misleading and rule in favour of a customer.