The Microsoft Tax Refund campaign at ILUGD

ILUGD is presently furiously discussing a legal procedure to get refund for the Microsoft Tax applied to all desktops and laptops that you buy from the branded market in India.

Here is a good definition of Microsoft Tax.

Some relevant snippets for the impatient.

The Microsoft tax is an unofficial, but commonly used term that refers to the licensing fee that Microsoft charges major suppliers of personal computers for each unit sold and that purchasers thus usually pay for such computers, regardless of whether or not they want or intend to use a Microsoft operating system.

This tax exists because of pressure … Microsoft has been able to exert such pressure because of its monopoly power, and the ability to dictate that nearly all new personal computers come with Microsoft Windows preinstalled has been a major factor in its ability to perpetuate this monopoly.

… Another factor that facilitates extracting this tax is the fact that most purchasers of personal computers are not aware of it, and most of those who are aware of it believe that they have no choice but to pay it.

So if you have ever been concerned that you are buying a laptop/desktop from the market, formatting, installing Linux/BSD on it, and in effect never using the Windows installation that came by default on it … this campaign is relevant to you, and you might get some of the money back that Microsoft has surreptitiously gained at your expense.

The campaign is being currently tracked here: http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Microsoft_Tax_Refund_Quest