Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au> wrote:
they're right about one thing - they do have the right to ask for the information. as a general rule, it's no crime to ask for information.
whether they have the right to demand, or whether you have any obligation to answer is another matter entirely.
Indeed it is, and if you want an informed answer to that question you'll need to consult a lawyer. It's possible that a licence could require you to disclose this kind of information to an authorized representative of the licencor, but this would have to be provided for in the terms of the licence. You would have to read carefully to find out. The last time I bought software from Microsoft was probably DOS back in the early 90s. I've bought a few machines since then with Windows pre-installed, but they all had the Windows partitions deleted and Linux installed immediately upon purchase, and I'm reasonably sure that destroying the software terminates any obligations under the licence.